Cooking The Speed just held on at the finish to beat Giggle Hanover and capture the $32,700 Lucien Bombardier Stakes at Hippodrome 3R on Sunday (Oct. 7).
One of the pioneers of harness racing in Canada, but especially Québec, Lucien Bombardier devoted his entire life to the industry. Born and raised near Bedford, Québec, Bombardier retired in 1992 after 16 years on the board of directors of the Canadian Standardbred Horse Society.
The race is also co-sponsored by Standardbred Canada.
Cooking The Speed, driven by Stephane Gendron, was the wagering favourite and raced like it. Leaving from post 2, Gendron sent the daughter of So Surreal right to the front with Hurryupatthebeach (Pascal Berube) following their cover in second to the quarter in :29.2.
At the half in an easy 1:00.3, Giggle Hanover (Pierre Luc Roy) came first-over, and following their outside cover was D Gs Fairystars (Jonathan Lachance).
In the backstretch, Lachance sent D Gs Fairystars three-wide, and the three horses raced that way past three-quarters in 1:30.2.
As the three horses started down the stretch, D Gs Fairystars began to fade, and it looked as if Giggle Hanover would wear down Cooking The Speed. Gendron was able to find another gear, as Cooking the Speed dug in and held on to win by half a length over Giggle Hanover in 1:59.2. Hurryupatthebeach was third.
It was the second win this year for Cooking The Speed, who is trained by Michel Allard and is owned by Allard Racing Inc. and Michel Allard of Saint-Espirt. She paid $5.00 to win.
There were two $10,000 Finals of the new Québec Plus Series. The third race was the final for two-year-old pacers, and track record holder Behavenmyself made it a clean sweep of the series.
Driven by Pascal Berube for trainer Gerald Demers, Behavenmyself took the early lead away from Dernier Essai (Pierre Luc Roy) by the opening quarter in :27.3 and was never seriously challenged again.
Berube and Behavenmyself then cut fractions of :57.2 and 1:28.1 before pulling away in the stretch to win by 3-1/4 lengths in 1:58.1. Dernier Essai was second with Angelo Benjo (Jonathan Lachance) third.
Sired by Badlands Hanover, Behavenmyself has now won both preliminary rounds and the final. She is owned by Les Ecuries GLD Inc. of St-Andre-Avelin with Jean Roch Marois of St-Joachim-De-Shefford and paid just $2.10 to win as the overwhelming favourite.
In the $10,000 Québec Plus Final for two-year-old trotters, the day belonged to Justice For Narnia and trainer-driver Sylvain Lacaille.
Leaving from the rail, Lacaille sent Justice For Narnia right to the lead and they never looked back, wiring the field in a huge romp by 16-1/2 lengths in 2:07.1. That’s Hooligan (Jean Paul Rousse) was second with El Bleu (Pierre Luc Roy) third.
A colt by Justice For Hall, it was the maiden victory for Justice For Narnia, who is co-owned by Lacaille of St Paul De Joliette with Benoit Gagnon of Montreal. The race was a non-wagering event.
Pascal Berube once again was the leading driver with three winners on the program. Live racing continues at H3R next Sunday (Oct. 14) with first race post time at 12:50 p.m. For more information, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results – Hippodrome 3R.
(Québec Jockey Club)