Just as they ended the 2024 season of harness racing at Hippodrome 3R, driver Pascal Berube and trainer Marc-Andre Simoneau have started 2025 at the top of the charts.

Hippodrome 3R kicked off its 2025 season on Saturday, May 3 with a special nine-dash card in conjunction with Kentucky Derby day. The feature race on the 3R card was the $5,500 Preferred Handicap Pace and favoured Light The Torch didn't disappoint his supporters or his connections.

Sent off as the 1-5 choice, Light The Torch left for position from post seven but didn't get a spot on the pylons as rail starter Sauble Amber (Michel Lagace) and Ambitious Mind (Francis Picard) kept the public choice up on the rim. Driver Pascal Berube bided his time on the outside through fractions of :28.1 and :57 and then popped the plugs on Light The Torch around the five-eighths mark.

With the three-quarter mark reached in 1:26.1, Light The Torch wasn't going away and continued to chip away at Sauble Amber's lead. The pacesetter started to fade around the final turn, while Light The Torch still had a strong flame burning. When Berube asked for more heat, he got it and Light The Torch pulled away from the field in the stretch to win by more than two lengths in a time of 1:55.  Perpetual Rock (Marie-Claude Auger) followed Light The Torch to the wire in second with Sauble Amber hanging on to complete the triactor ticket.

Owned by trainer Simoneau along with Jean Fontaine of Trois-Rivieres, Que., Light The Torch picked up his first victory of the year in five tries, and he returned $2.50 to win. The five-year-old altered son of Always B Miki - Surfer Chick now sports 17 wins in 72 appearances with earnings exceeding $124,000.

Simoneau and Berube teamed up for a total of three wins on the Saturday card to take the early lead in the local trainer and driver standings. Hooter Shooter ($4.60) gave the duo their first tally of the year in the fourth race, with that 12-year-old returning to the races  with a 2:01.3 score after missing all of 2024. Proberts Legacy ($21.20) prevailed in the seventh for Berube and Simoneau before the Light The Torch completed the hat trick in the next dash.

In addition to his three victories with Simoneau, Berube also notched a fourth win courtesy JK Party — a winner by nearly 27 lengths in the sixth.

Hippodrome 3R will host 40 race dates in 2025 starting with racing on Sundays through May. Fridays will be added to the weekly racing schedule at the Trois-Rivieres, Que. half-mile oval in June for the summer months until mid-September, then continuing with just Sundays through Nov. 9.

To view the full results from the 2025 season opener, click the following link: Saturday Results - Hippodrome 3R.

(Standardbred Canada; photo of Light The Torch from a previous win)