It may only be for the first two races on the program, but harness racing fans at the Hippodrome 3R will be able to welcome back leading driver Louis-Philippe Roy on Sunday (October 23).

Roy – whose 56 wins this season should easily stand up through the rest of the race meet, which concludes on Sunday, November 13 – is making a brief appearance at ‘3R’ in the first and second races before heading off to drive the full card at Rideau Carlton Raceway.

“Yes, I will be at 3R this Sunday for the first two races,” Roy said. “I am coming to drive Iron Phil in the first race and M G Kudos in the second. Owners Eric De Champlain and Nathalie Migneault asked me to be there to drive their horses. I am doing it for them, as they have been a big part of my career when I was driving just in the fairs. It does not conflict with any races at Rideau.”

Roy’s lead for the driving title may be sewed up at 3R. Pascal Berube is second with 34 wins, but he did not have any wins last week at 3R; while Stephane Gendron has been red hot, having scored driving triples or better the last few weeks and is at 32 wins.

“As they say,” Roy laughed, “catch me if you can.”

Roy is also the leading driver at Rideau Carlton Raceway and holds a 112 to 103 lead against Guy Gagnon.

Both of the horses Roy is driving at 3R Sunday are the race favourites.

Last Sunday, trainer Yves Tessier sent out three winners and took over the lead as top trainer at 3R, 21 to 20, over last year’s champion, Maxime Velaye.

Velaye, who primarily trains young horses, may not be able to catch the red-hot Tessier, whose Universal Training Rating (UTR) is at a very impressive .556. Also having a red-hot stable this season is trainer Alain Martin, whose UTR is at .743.

Tessier has only one horse entered at 3R at Sunday.

Stephane Gendron is enjoying some extra bonus money at 3R for his driving efforts. The Tour du champeau, sponsored locally by Gentilly Ford autos, offers a $100 bonus to any driver who can win three races on the program at 3R. If no one does, the bonus rises $25 per race card. But as of late, Gendron seems to take home the bonus money every week.

Gendron is also closing in on his 4,000th career win. Going into Sunday’s card he has 3,977 career victories.

Driver/trainer Sylvain Lacaille is recuperating from his race accident. He is suffering mainly from fractured ribs and hopes to be in action before the end of the year.

“I should be back to racing in November if all goes well.” Lacaille said, “But I have to confess that my ribs still hurt. In my free time I delegate the work around the stable, but I do not do too much. I'm looking forward to come back to racing.”

Sunday is Hot Dog Day at the Hippodrome 3R with a $2 special that includes two hot dogs and a soft drink.

To view the harness racing entries for Sunday at 3R, click the following link: Sunday Entries – Hippodrome 3R.

To access a printable program for 3R’s Sunday card, click here.

(Hippodrome 3R)