Both Half A Billion and HP Sissy enjoyed the driving services of Louis-Philippe Roy while winning their respective divisions of the Quebec-Bred Series Sunday (May 28) at Hippodrome 3R.
With plenty of sunshine and warmer weather, the track was lightning fast and it showed on the teletimer.
Roy and Half A Billion started off the show in the fifth race Quebec-Bred Series third leg for four and five-year-old pacing horses.
It was Mach On The Beach and driver Pascal Berube first to the show from the rail with Sports Authority (Pierre-Luc Roy) leaving and getting the two-hole tuck to the opening quarter mile in :28.
But that lead was soon gone as Roy wasted little time moving first-over with Half A Billion, taking the lead at the half mile marker in :56.3, then holding the field at bay to the three-quarters in 1:24.4. He then opened it up in the stretch, winning with ease by six and one-half open lengths in 1:53.1.
Half A Billion and Louis-Philippe Roy (thephotodesk.ca)
Sports Authority was able to come on for second place with Mach On The Beach third. Sent off as the overwhelming favourite, Half A Billion paid $2.70 to win.
It was the third straight win and fourth victory on the year for the five-year-old gelding by Sportswriter. He is trained by Francis Richard for co-owners Michel and Francois Letarte, Jean Allaire and Corey Giles. His time of 1:53.1 was his fastest win ever on a half mile track and the fastest mile of the season at H3R.
It was nearly a repeat performance for Roy in the eighth race mares’ division of the Quebec-Bred Series.
HP Pandora and driver Stephane Brosseau went out to the early lead with stablemate HP Sissy stalking on the outside and then shooting to the lead in a speedy opening quarter mile in :27.
HP Sissy and Roy were then content to lead the field to the half mile in :55.4 and then in the backstretch, Roy kicked out the ear plugs and HP Sissy started to open up on the field to the three-quarters in 1:25.1 and won with ease in 1:54.4 by one and three-quarter lengths. Wanda Bayama (Yves Filion) was a game second with Art De Gagnee (Pierre-Luc Roy) third.
The time of the mile was just three fifths of a second off of the track record of 1:54.1 for older mares held by My Tallia Ideal in 2015.
It was the third straight win and fourth triumph this year for HP Sissy. The four-year-old daughter of Up The Credit is trained by Jean Tourigny for breeder Claude Hamel, who owns the mare with Michel Damphousse.
Now the top eight money winners in the series will return on Sunday, June 11 for the $30,000 Quebec-Series Finales for the mares and horses.
For Louis-Philippe Roy, it was not a track record setting day for dash wins like two weeks ago, but he still scored three winners on the afternoon to lead all drivers on the day and retain his lead in the driver’s standings.
TRACK NOTES: For the second straight week, driver Jocelyn Gendron has brought in the highest priced winner of the season. Last week it was Northern Trophy paying $69.10. Sunday Gendron scored in the 2nd race pace with 34-1 Whitemountainheart, who paid $70.80 to win.
Driver Stephane Gendron had two winners on the program, including the ninth race Invitational Pace with Ufdragons Rocket and is now only two wins away from scoring his 4,000th career victory.
H3R begins night live racing this Tuesday, May 30 with first race post time at 7:00 p.m. The first night program is headlined by the opening round of the Quebec-Bred Series for four and five-year-old trotters. There are two divisions headlined by track record holder and prior champions Wildwild Men, Seeyou Men, Holiday Party and in the mare’s division, Y S Suzanne, SOS Revange and Y A Jailhouse Jody.
Next Sunday (June 4) will be the second annual All-Star Drivers Tournament at H3R featuring last year’s inaugural winner, Jody Jamieson, Hall of Famer David Miller, H3R’s leading driver this and last season, Louis-Philippe Roy, Yannick Gingras, Daniel Dube, Sylvain Filion, Stephane Bouchard and Scott Zeron, all competing in eight tournament races.
To view the harness racing results for Sunday at H3R, click the following link: Sunday Results – Hippodrome 3R.
(Quebec Jockey Club)