Driver Robert Shepherd has had a memorable year already at Hippodrome 3R, but he’ll have an opportunity to embellish it further on Sunday.

The 35-year-old Prince Edward Island native is one of two outside drivers invited to compete this year in the Quebec track’s annual drivers’ tournament. The other is U.S.-based Simon Allard, a Quebec native.

They’ll square off with the track’s seven leading drivers of 2015: Denis St. Pierre, Mario Charron, Stephane Brosseau, Stephane Gendron, Jocelyn Gendron, Pascal Berube and Louis Philippe Roy.

“It’s an honour,” said Shepherd, who compiled some impressive statistics at Hippodrome 3R this season, winning with eight of 13 drives and finishing second with three others for earnings of more than $80,000.

Shepherd’s main track is Flamboro Downs, where he’s the leading driver with more than 100 victories this season. He also finished fifth in the driver standings at Grand River Raceway.

He’s competed in driver tournaments before, but still is looking for his first victory, “if you don’t count the father/son tournament back home (won with father Harold).”

“I seem to do pretty good on half-mile tracks, but you never know. Depends on the horses. I’ll check up a little (on their past form) but I don’t try to work out too many plans. You can mess it all up doing that."

(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)