Partyintheshadows notched his second straight win in the Preferred Handicap Pace at Hippodrome 3R on Sunday (Oct. 15) with the fastest mile on the 11-race card.
For winning driver Robert Shepherd, it was his third winner on the afternoon, with only the reigning 3R driving champion Pascal Berube having won more on the card, scoring four victories on Sunday.
And the trainer’s standing was again hotly contested as both leader David Pilon and second place Marc-Andre Simoneau each scored training triples.
In the 10th race feature, Jimbelina (Marie-Claude Auger) went out to the early lead and parked out Sports Bettor (Pascal Berube) to the opening quarter in :27.2.
With race favourite Partyintheshadows coming second-over and Celia Bayama (Stephane Brosseau) sitting in the two-hole, Jimbelina and Sports Bettor continued their battle for the lead past the half-mile marker in :56.2.
Once the field reached the backstretch, Shepherd went three-wide with Partyintheshadows, who cleared to the lead at the three-quarters in 1:26.1. Meanwhile, D Gs De Vito (Jonathan Lachance) followed Partyintheshadows three-wide and moved into second place around the final turn.
Partyintheshadows then kicked in another gear for Shepherd and pulled away from the field down the stretch, scoring in a romp by six open lengths in 1:54.1. D Gs De Vito held for second place with Celia Bayama third.
It was the fifth win on the season for Partyintheshadows, who is trained by David Pilon for owner Francois Morin of Beauceville, Que. The son of Shadow Play paid $2.90 to win.
In the third race pace for fillies and mares, even-money race favourite NY Hardcore and driver Robert Shepherd were able to post the four-year-old American Ideal mare's seventh win of the year.
Starting from the second tier in post nine, NY Hardcore and Shepherd were able to follow Pez Dispenser (Jocelyn Gendron) from the start and gain second position, then went to the outside and took the lead at the opening quarter-mile in :28.3.
From there, NY Hardcore led the rest of the one-mile race, winning with ease by three lengths in 1:58.2. Pez Dispenser was second with Larjon Lena (Pascal Berube) third.
Trained by David Pilon, NY Hardcore is owned by Sonia Joly of St-Charles Borromee, Que. She paid $4.20 to win.
In the trainer standings, Pilon leads over Simoneau, 29-27. With his driving quadruple, Berube extended his lead over Brosseau, 71-51, with just three days of racing left in the 3R season. Berube looks to be a sure thing to win his fourth straight driving title.
Live racing will resume at 3R next Sunday, Oct. 22 with first race post time at 12 p.m.
To view the full results from Sunday's harness racing card at Hippodrome 3R, click the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R
(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)