For the second Sunday afternoon in a row, Pascal Berube stole the show. Hippodrome 3R's leading driver once again won five of the afternoon's races, including a division of the Series Quebecoises that ended in a photo finish with Bets Beach ($20.70) springing the upset.

Berube worked out a perfect pocket trip for Bets Beach from the inside post in the $6,000 division for male pacers, tracking heavy 1-9 favourite The Light Speed (Jocelyn Gendron) through fractions of :28.1, :57.2 and 1:26.3 before catching that rival at the wire in 1:55.1 for the mild upset as the 9-1 second choice. Richie Alpha (Stephane Brosseau) finished four lengths behind the top pair in third after a failed first-over attempt at three-quarters.

Yves Tessier trains and co-owns the winning the five-year-old All Bets Off-Blue Beach Girl gelding with Gina Bragagnolo of Trois-Rivieres, Que., and Jean Allaire of Montreal, Que. Through his first five starts of the season, Bets Beach has won back-to-back races, improving his lifetime record to 11-2-5 from 29 starts.

Two of Berube's Sunday winners were trained by Marc-Andre Simoneau, including popular pacer Light The Torch ($2.70) in his return to 3R where he remains undefeated this meet in the $5,500 Preferred class. Locally owned by Simoneau and Jean Fontaine, the five-year-old Always B Miki-Surfer Chick gelding matched his season's mark of 1:55 flat in his third win while overcoming his outside post eight assignment with another Berube pocket drive. Self Made (Stephane Brosseau), who left just to his inside and set the pace with panels clocked in :28.3, :58 and 1:26.4, settled for second, beat less than a length by the 1-5 favourite after their final quarter duel. American Zestar (David Pilon) rounded out the top three nine lengths behind.

Berube also teamed up with the Simoneau-trained pacing mare Summer Lovin ($2.10), who won her third straight race over an eight-day period since joining 3R's leading stable.

Quebec's reigning Driver of the Year started the day by sweeping the early Daily Double with a pair of repeat winners, eight-year-old pacer G A Speed Joey ($9.70) for the David Pilon stable and trainer Mathieu Nadeau's sophomore pacer JK Party ($2.40), who took a new lifetime mark of 1:56.2. 

Berube's five wins came from just seven listed drives, with a runner-up result part of his consistent performance and another race not completed.

In the Series Quebecoises distaff division, driver Steven Gagnon worked out the winning trip in rein to his former series champion and 1-2 favourite Kiss Me Bad ($3) with a successful first-over journey from mid-field to defeat pacesetter Godro Bets Off (:28.2, :58.3, 1:28.1) by a 1-1/2 lengths in 1:57.2. Making the second start of her nine-year-old campaign for trainer Daniel Mondou, the Badlands Hanover-Helen Of Troy mare earned her 26th career win.

The 10th and final race on Sunday's card was marred by an accident in the first turn that caused Three Somewhere's driver, Stephane Brosseau, to be unseated and run over by trailing Indigo Seelster, driven by Jocelyn Gendron, unable to avoid the collision. The Quebec Jockey Club's Cynthia Thériault told Trot Insider after the completion of the card that all drivers and horses are ok. The race was declared a No Contest with all wagers, totalling $14,121, refunded.

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

(Standardbred Canada; photo of Bets Beach [#1] winning on June 8)