Only For Justice made two big moves to finally get the lead and pull away from the field in winning the $5,000 Preferred Trot on Friday afternoon, June 14 at Hippodrome 3R.
In the fourth race feature, Frido PV (Pascal Berube) fought past Muscles Forever (Sylvain Fontaine) to take the lead with race favourite Only For Justice (Francis Picard) also leaving, but taking a tuck in third place by the opening quarter-mile in :29.2.
After rounding the first turn, Picard went first-over with Only For Justice and pressured Frido PV to the half-mile in :59.3. In the backstretch, Picard dropped Only For Justice into the two-hole, but before the three-quarters in 1:28.3, they were back out again and took the lead away from Frido PV. Meanwhile, Thats Hooligan (Marie-Claude Auger), who was going for his fourth straight win, was first-over but was not going to pose a threat to Only For Justice.
Heading down the stretch, Only For Justice pulled away from the field and won in a romp by 6-3/4-lengths in 1:58.2, the fastest trotting mile of the season so far at 3R. Frido PV held for second over Thats Hooligan.
A runner-up to Thats Hooligan in last week's Preferred, Only For Justice earned his first win of the season in three attempts and his 21st victory lifetime. The eight-year-old Justice Hall gelding, whose 2023 campaign was cut short after his Series Quebecoise victory last July, is trained by Linda Belanger for owner/breeder Ecurie Gaetan Bono Inc. of Laval, Que.
"Only For Justice last year had an injury following his victory in the $30,000 final," explained Belanger. "So, we gave him six months of rest. I qualified him twice and today was his third start, so he was ready. 'Only' is a high-class horse and we give him the best care we can to keep him in good shape. And today, he gave it back to us."
Only For Justice paid $3.50 to win as the bettors' choice.
Stephane Brosseau led all drivers with a triple on Friday and Belanger had a training double.
Live harness racing resumes at 3R on Sunday afternoon at 12 noon. The feature race is the ninth race, the Preferred Handicap Pace, which will mark the Quebec return of Light The Torch, who is eligible to the $200,000 Prix d’Ete at 3R on Aug. 18. Also in the race are newcomers from Woodbine Mohawk Park, Acapulco Sunburn and Savoir Duharas.
The Quebec Jockey Club has announced a new partnership with Ghislain Paquet’s Facebook group, Passion Courses. The social media platform has thousands of subscribers, all of whom follow harness racing and is in both French and English.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)