Coming off its best season of harness racing last year with an impressive 40 per cent increase in total handle wagering over 2022, Hippodrome 3R (3R) in Quebec is ready to kick off the 2024 season on Sunday, May 5.

There are 10 races set to start at 12 noon. All of the races are full fields of eight or nine starters.

Leading driver Pascal Berube will be gunning for an unprecedented fifth straight driving title at 3R. He has a horse to drive in nine of the 10 races Sunday.

“In my case, I am never confident of winning a championship because the season is still full of unforeseen events, because of the horses we have to drive and the shape they are in as well as the class in which they race,” said Berube. “The opening day is always pleasant because the people in the paddock are really happy to be there...they have been waiting for this moment for weeks and even months. So, people are excited and it’s fun.”

With the start of a new race meet, horses are entered from other tracks and off of qualifying races, so it is always difficult to handicap most of the races. This is especially the case with the Preferred Pace feature in the eighth race on Sunday.

There are nine horses in the race and the morning line favourite is Three Somewhere from post seven for driver Maxime Dinelle. The five-year-old gelding showed true grit in his last qualifying race at 3R, grinding it out first-over and losing by just a head.

The Jack Reid-trained entry of Born A Rebel from the pylons and Celia Bayama in post five will be tough to contend with. They are both coming off strong qualifying races at 3R. Born A Rebel will be driven by Stephane Brosseau while Celia Bayama will have Jessica Turenne in the sulky.

Starting from the second tier in post nine will be Sports Bettor for driver William Roy. This 12-year-old son of Sportswriter is the class of the field with $662,000 in career earnings. Last year, he won nine times and was in the inaugural $60,000 Brian Paquet Memorial at 3R.

Other contenders include Proberts Legacy in post five for Berube. This one has been racing at Rideau Carleton as has Thedoginthefight from post three for driver Jocelyn Gendron; both horses should be ready for big efforts.

For more information and a free race program, visit hippodrome3r.ca. To view Sunday's entries, click one of the following links: Hippodrome 3R - Sunday Entries // TrackIT Program Pages.

(Quebec Jockey Club)