Hippodrome 3R was the host of the inaugural Francois Carignan Cup on Sunday, Oct. 13 which was the championship final of the 2024 season for amateur drivers.

And scoring a big upset on Sunday was amateur driver Nancy Auger, who was able to lead from start to finish with 12-1 Mach Play in the ninth race feature.

Leaving from post three, Auger, who also trains Mach Play, left and went right to the front with On Cruise Control (Mathys Lapointe) sitting the pocket trip and Mad Pacha (Mario Dupont) parked out first-over after a game three-wide move at the start from post eight. The first quarter went in :28.2. Mach Play led the field to the half-mile in :57.2 and then on the backstretch, On Cruise Control left the pocket and came first-over, giving race favourite Jayport Lexus (Marc Lemay) second-over cover by the three-quarters in 1:28.2. Auger kept Mach Play on top around the final turn and coming to the wire held off a late charge by Jayport Lexus to win by three-quarters of a length in 2:00.2. Better Kissthe Men (Nicole Gagne) was third.

The win was the sixth this season for Mach Play. The eight-year-old Shadow Play gelding is owned by Joel Gagnon of Pont Rouge, Que. He paid $27 to win.

 The Quebec Jockey Club, the Association trot et amble du Québec (ATAQ) and the Quebec Regional Fair Circuit revived amateur racing this season at both 3R and the Regional Fair Circuit.

Before the start of the race card, a cheque for more than $2,300 was presented to the local Trois-Rivieres organization, Point de Rue. Point de Rue has been assisting homeless and social exclusion people since 1993.

The Francois Carignan Cup is named after the director of operations at 3R who came to the group explaining that one of his sons suffers from mental health problems and has become homeless over the years, like hundreds, if not thousands, of people in large cities. They then agreed to the charity and named the final after Carignan.

There was a pair of $13,500 Three-Year-Old Opens for Quebec-bred and owned trotters and pacers on Sunday.

In the trot, the overwhelming 1-9 favourites, Cleomax Duharas and driver Pascal Berube, went down the road to win with ease in 1:59.3 by 1-3/4 lengths over Last Try (Sylvain Lacaille) with MVPs Daughter (Jerome Lombart) third.

One of only two fillies in the race against colts, Cleomax Duharas, who earlier this season won the $65,000 Quebec Championship, posted her second straight win and seventh victory of the year. The daughter of Muscle Mass is trained by Marc-Andre Simoneau, who co-owns the filly with Desjardins Noreau Stable, Dany Fontaine and Jean Fontaine. She paid $2.30 to win.

In the pace co-feature, G A Speed Expert (Francis Picard) won in a romp by six open lengths in 1:57.1, but was disqualified by the judges and placed seventh after causing interference on the first turn.  Dan Speed and driver Jessica Turenne were placed first. Classic Jim (Stephane Brosseau) was third-placed-second with HP Game On (Antoine Desrochers) third.

The win was the second straight and third of the season for Dan Speed. The son of Malicious is trained and co-owned by Yannick Marquis with Joannie Paquette, Maxim Gagnon and Nicole Gagnon. He paid $11.20 to win.

To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.

(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)