Driver William Roy and trainer Guy Roy teamed up to sweep the second leg of the Coupe De L'Avenir for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings with undefeated Bernard and the debuting dark horse Dark Flame on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 17 at Hippodrome 3R.

Bernard ($2.10) maintained his perfect record with a 2:00.2 triumph in the fastest and final $7,500 stakes division of the day as the track conditions improved throughout the afternoon to 'good' with a two-second variant for this event. The overwhelming 1-9 favourite looped early leaver Reve (Simon Deslisle) in a :29 quarter then cruised through middle splits of :59.3 and 1:30.2 en route to an open-length victory. Panic Ray (Sylvain Lacaille) overtook Reve in the race for place more than seven lengths behind. A 1:59 opening leg winner on July 27, the undefeated gelding by Sportswriter out of Armand Spice now boasts a perfect four-race record to start his career for owners Sabrina Pelletier of Sorel-Tracy, Que., and Yvon Genereux of La Bostonais, Que.

Dark Flame was the dark horse in the day's Coupe De L'Avenir action as the first-time starter pulled off a 26-1 upset, winning his $7,500 division for the colts and geldings in 2:02.3 over sloppy conditions with a three-second allowance. With qualifying gait issues behind him, Dark Flame was on his best behaviour in his debut and made up an early 15-length deficit to defeat the heavy 1-9 favourite, White Mountain Sun (Marie-Claude Auger), by four lengths. Well off the leaders gapping in fourth through quick opening panels of :28.1 and :59, Dark Flame started to make progress as the field passed three-quarters in 1:30.3 and was within striking distance at the head of the stretch. A homebred for owner Richard Desrosiers of Massueville, Que, the Sportswriter-C Lulu Amaze Me gelding took control in a :30.2 final frame, with White Mountain Sun settling for second and Wicked Buddy Buck (Pascal Berube) third. Bettors that backed the unproven rookie were rewarded with a $55.80 payout for a $2 win ticket.

Cattlekiss ($2.10) was a repeat winner in the Coupe De L'Avenir for the two-year-old filly pacers with a 2:03.2 triumph over a sloppy -3 track for trainer/driver Guy Gagnon. Sent off as the heavy 1-9 favourite in what would be the fastest of two $7,500 filly divisions, the Cattlewash-Kiss Baby Kiss filly secured a pocket trip for opening panels of :30.4 and 1:03 before taking the lead from Esmeralda Du Lac (Louis-Philippe Roy) at three-quarters in 1:34.3 and sprinting home in :28.4 to finish 6-3/4 lengths in front of that foe. Got No More (Pascal Berube) was third. Owned by Ecuries Guy Gagnon Inc. of Gatineau, Que., Cattlekiss has won both of her starts in this series at Hippodrome 3R and is now three-for-five with a pair of top three finishes in the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Series.

Chezmatante Du Lac ($4.40) won the other $7,500 filly division at first asking in a 7-1/4-length romp for trainer Marc-Andre Simoneau, with Louis-Philippe Roy in town to drive his homebred. Sent postward as the 6-5 bettors' choice, the Cattlewash-Signet miss tracked in third as the fractions went in :31, 1:04.1 and 1:36.4, then swept to command with a quarter-mile to go and took off turning for home to win in 2:07.4 with a :30.4 final frame over a sloppy track rated four seconds slow. Addie Majesty (Marie-Claude Auger) and pacesetter Maumoneyhustle (Guy Gagnon) rounded out the top three. Chezmatante Du Lac is owned by Louis-Philippe Roy Racing and Groupe Chezmatante Du Lac of Campbellville, Ont., Jean Allaire of Montreal, Que., and Michel Letarte of Boucherville, Que.

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

(Standardbred Canada; photo of Bernard from a previous win)