Godiva Shadow Girl turned in a dominant display to upset defending mares champion Kiss Me Bad as the Series Quebecoises got underway for the pacers on Sunday, June 7 at Hippodrome 3R.

Godiva Shadow Girl won the afternoon's fastest $6,000 division in 1:57.3 over the "good" track for driver William Roy and trainer Lyne Asselin. She led at every call, setting early fractions of :27.4 and :56.3 then extending her insurmountable lead through three-quarters in 1:26.1. The six-year-old mare cruised home to win by five lengths while 1-5 favourite Kiss Me Bad (Daniel Mondou) got clearance down the backstretch and progressed to take second-place over pocket-sitter Better Kissthe Men (Simon Delisle) and the late-closing Islamabad (Francis Picard).

A homebred daughter of Shadow Play out of Godiva Beachgirl for Raymond Larose of St-Henri-De-Levis, Que., Godiva Shadow Girl entered the series off a seventh-place finish in an May 31 overnight race that marked her return to the races for the first time since 2023. Sent postward as the 6-1 third choice in the field of eight distaffers, Godiva Shadow Girl returned $15.70 for the upset win. She now has 11 victories from 29 career starts with earnings topping the $70,000 mark.

There were no surprises in the other divisions as Silvery Majesty ($2.10) and Bets Beach ($2.20) were popular winners.

In the other mares division, multiple Quebec stakes winner Silver Majesty took a brief tuck in third then shot to the top ahead of early leaver Shanghaibluebeach (Jocelyn Gendron) at the :28.2 quarter pole in her provincial return for driver Denis St. Pierre. She kept longshot challenger Godiva Lady Morgan (William Roy) at bay through middle splits of :58.2 and 1:28.1 then took off in the stretch to win by 3-1/2 lengths in 1:58 flat. Godiva Lady Morgan settled for second while Serenity Road (Sylvain Lacaille) closed off her cover to nab third-place just ahead of Shanghaibluebeach.

Silver Majesty earned her fourth win of the season from 14 starts and now has 16 wins overall in her career spanning 44 races, with a six-figure bankroll of $118,210 for owners Silver Stables and Marie Michelle Gaboury of Venise-En-Quebec, Que. Jean-Francois Maguire trains the daughter of All Bets Off out of Acaena De Chakrika.

Driven by Pascal Berube for trainer Yves Tessier, the seasonally unbeaten and recent Preferred winner Bets Beach tracked cover from fifth in the male division as the field completed the first half-mile in 1:00.1 then charged three-wide down the backstretch the final time to reach the tempo-setter, Albert Alpha (Steeven Genois), at the 1:30.1 third quarter mark. He kept on going around the final turn while Kingston Panic (Simon Delisle) chased off his cover to place one length behind in the 1:58.1 mile. Thrilling Times (William Roy) finished third off a pocket trip.

Bets Beach is now four-for-four this year and boasts 17 career victories from 50 starts with nearly $75,000 in earnings. The six-year-old All Bets Off-Blue Beach Girl gelding is owned by Tessier along with partners Gina Bragagnolo of Trois-Rivieres, Que., and Jean Allaire of Montreal, Que.

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

(Standardbred Canada)