R Rkadabra, who had not been able to go gate-to-wire in his last four starts, was able to return to winning form, as he held off Jamigo to win the Preferred Trot at Hippodrome 3R Sunday afternoon (Feb. 11).
The sixth-race feature saw R Rkadabra and driver Pierre Luc Roy shoot out to the early lead by four lengths. Holiday Party (driven by Pascal Berube) was the race favourite and got away in second place as R Rkadabra cut a :28.1 opening quarter mile.
R Kadabra and Roy were in easy command of the race approaching the half mile mark as Daniel Laflamme came first-over with Jamigo into a half in :59.2.
Jamigo and Laflamme kept inching their way towards R Rkadabra at the three quarters in 1:30.1. R Kadabra and Roy were hard pressed by Jamigo as Holiday Party and Pascal Berube came three-wide to mount a challenge.
Once starting down the stretch it looked as if Jamigo would be able to catch and beat R Rkadabra, but that was not happening, as R Rkadabra kicked into another gear and held off Jamigo by a neck in 2:02. Holiday Party fininshed third.
The victory was the fifth win of the year for R Rkadabra, a ten-year-old gelding by Kadabra, who is trained by Isabelle Binet and is owned by Gestion Mark Lemay, Inc. of Quebec City. He paid $13.60 to win.
The long shot of the day came in the eight-race pace when Clever Thing and driver Tyler Jones were able to grind it out first-over against Allstar Seelster (Stephane Brosseau) and then hold off D J Power (Pierre Luc Roy) to win by a half-length in 1:58.1.
Sent off at odds of 16-1, Clever Thing paid $34.70 to win while posting his tenth win of the year for trainer Francis Guillemette. Jones and Gullemette co-own the eight-year-old gelding by Stonebridge Regal.
Track Notes: Starting next week at H3R the drivers will forgo their whips as the last two days of the race season will be competed without whips. First race post time will be at 12:50 p.m. For more information, visit quebecjockeyclub.com.
To view the harness racing results for Sunday at H3R, click the following link: Sunday Results – Hippodrome 3R.
(Quebec Jockey Club)