With a beautiful, sunny and warm afternoon, the Hippodrome 3R opened for the 2015 harness racing season with a strong crowd and a very competitive 10-race program.
The racing was so competitive that last year’s driving champion, Denis St Pierre, failed to win any of the races as did former driving champion Gaetan Lamy in his return to 3R. In fact, only one driver, Stephane Brosseau, was able to win two races on the program.
Both the fans and horsemen and women at the track were pleased to welcome back Gaetan Lamy to the Hippodrome 3R.
Retired from racing in 2010 with 19 driving titles at Trois-Rivieres, Lamy could not stay away from the races.
“I was always attending the fairs in Quebec," Lamy explained. “Two of my good friends for many years in racing, Michel Saint-Louis and Claude Dulude, asked me to start driving again at the Bedford Fair last year. There was a tournament and I won the final and that got me really hooked again. I thought that I should try again and drive professionally.
“I need to be where the action is and not in retirement,” Lamy said. “I was mainly volunteering here and there and that was not enough. I always kept my passion for racing. So I got my license back.
“I will only drive at 3R and the fairs,” Lamy added. "At age 68 I do not have any goals to go further than that. I may not be as aggressive as I used to be, but I am ready for the competition.
“After I drove in nine qualifiers here, I felt it in my body, but I enjoyed it and now feel I am back in shape.”
When 3R closed last year, the statistics showed an impressive average win price per race of $10.35 and that average continued on opening day with the 10-race program averaging $10.40 per winning horse.
The feature race of the day was also the highest payoff on the program as Matts Phil and driver Pascal Berube got a perfect two-hole trip behind G Zattara (Steeven Genois) and went on to win the second race pace in 1:58.3. At odds of 14-1, Matts Phil returned $31.10 to win. It was the seasonal debut for the five-year-old gelded son of Shanghai Phil, who is trained and owned by Guillaume Desrochers of Warwick, Que.
Live racing will resume next Sunday, May 10 with first post time at 1:30 p.m. This year, the Hippodrome 3R will race live on Wednesday evenings starting May 13 with first race post time at 7:00 p.m.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from QJC)