Hippodrome 3R in Quebec brought the curtain down on its successful 2023 harness racing season on Sunday, Nov. 12 with an impressive 40 per cent increase in total handle over last year for the 41-day meet.
Last year, the total handle for the 3R race season was $4,883,915. After Sunday’s 10-race program was in the books, the total handle for the 2023 season was $7,009,974, a 40 per cent increase.
For the fourth straight year, Pascal Berube was the leading driver at 3R once again. Adding two victories on the final card, he totalled 81 wins at the meet. It was just last year that he became the first driver ever to win 100 races in a season at 3R. Stephane Brosseau and Robert Shepherd tied for second with 57 wins each.
David Pilon, who bookened the final card of the meet with victories, celebrated the first training title of his career, sending out 37 winners from his stable, with Marc-Andre Simoneau in second with 30 wins and Maxime Velaye third with 18.
Kicking off the Sunday card, Pilon trainee G A Speed Joey (pictured above) and Shepherd crushed the field in the featured $4,000 conditioned pace.
Sports Bettor (Jocelyn Gendron) worked his way to the lead over Howies Man (Daniel Dulude) to the first quarter in :27.4. Heading to the half-mile in :58.2, the 1-9 favourite, G A Speed Joey, went first-over but could not get by Sports Bettor until the backstretch.
Once on the lead and by the three-quarters in 1:26.3, Shepherd let G A Speed Joey have his way and they tore off to a four-length lead at the top of the stretch before winning in a romp by nine open lengths in 1:55.4. That would be the fastest mile on the afternoon. Sports Bettor held for second with GA Speedy Gaby (Francis Picard) third.
The win was the third straight and sixth of the season in 23 starts for the six-year-old Betterthancheddar gelding. The Pilon trainee is owned by Alain Carrier. G A Speed Joey paid $2.30 to win.
In the $3,500 second race conditioned pace for fillies and mares, it was leading driver of the meet Pascal Berube’s time to shine as he brought home 29-1 longshot Silent Voices.
Ladysmith (Stephane Brosseau), the lone filly in the field, was the 1-5 favourite and went right to the early lead with HF Agent Andreoli (Marie-Claude Auger) sitting the two-hole trip. The quarter went in :29.1 and the half in :59.3 as Bettimontheriver (Jocelyn Gendron) went first-over with Silent Voices second-over from the backfield.
With their cover not going fast enough in the backstretch, Berube swept three-wide with Silent Voices and following the outside flow was Way Over (Robert Shepherd). Silent Voices was able to clear into the first-over position past the three-quarters in 1:29.3 and went after pacesetter Ladysmith.
Down the stretch, Ladysmith was leading, Silent Voices was closing and also in the fray was Way Over. They were three across heading down to the wire with Silent Voices winning by a quarter-length over Ladysmith and Way Over finishing two lengths back in third. The time of the mile was 1:59.4.
The win was the fifth this year in 21 starts for Silent Voices. The four-year-old Bettors Delight mare is co-owned by trainer Nancy Goulin with Daniel Herbert. She paid $60.10 to win.
Shepherd had a driving triple on Sunday. Both Berube and Brosseau had driving doubles. Pilon had a training double.
Hippodrome 3R will be open all winter long for simulcasting. Live harness racing is scheduled to return in April 2024.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)