Driver Nick Boyd claimed victory over defending champion Stephane Brosseau in a final stretch showdown in the 2026 Quebec / Eastern Ontario Regional Driving Championship (QEORDC), presented by Standardbred Canada, on Sunday, June 14 at Hippodrome 3R in Trois-Rivières, Que.
Both Boyd and Brosseau will advance in the National Driving Championship (NDC) on Sunday, July 26 at Clinton Raceway in Clinton, Ont.
Boyd made an appearance atop the leaderboard early in the eight-race competition with a strong start including a wire-to-wire victory in the second leg with his first draft pick Kinnder Colosse, a three-year-old pacing gelding trained by Alexane Laroche. Back-to-back second-place finishes in the fifth and sixth legs gave Boyd the edge over early points leader Pascal Berube, and from there, he battled back and forth atop the standings with Brosseau, who boosted his points when veteran pacer Lets Get Pickled headed Boyd's mount Mr John, the 2-1 bettors' choice, in a sixth leg photo finish.
Just one point separated the leaders heading into the final leg, with Boyd hot on the helmet of the 2024 QEORDC champion Brosseau and another matchup between those two brewing. The result of the race and the entire competition came down to the final strides when the Alain Carrier-trained pacer Ga Speed Gaby sealed the deal for Boyd, defeating Brosseau's first draft pick, the 1-9 favourite Joltin Joe, from the pocket.
"I don't think it gets better than that. I'm very happy to be here, very happy to be a part of this competition," said Boyd after securing the 2026 QEORDC title with a total of 63 points, the bulk earned from his two wins and three second-place finishes. "...It's like my Stanley Cup, so I'm going to cherish every moment of it. There are a lot of drivers in Canada, a lot of good drivers, I understand not all are part of the competition, but I get to compete with [seven] others to represent Canada, and you're in the spotlight, and we'll have a fun day at Clinton."
Boyd, who won by just a four-point margin, had nothing but respect for his competition.
"You know, Steph Brosseau, he was the first Quebec driver I met," noted Boyd. "The first time I was in a Regional Driving Championship, we sat beside each other at the table. The first time I'd ever met him, he was super great to me, and I'm just very thankful that he's the one going on with me as well, but man, what a feeling!"
The 2026 Quebec / Eastern Ontario Regional Driving Championship winners presentation, from left to right: François Carignan of the Quebec Jockey Club; Guillaume Richard, Standardbred Canada Director and General Manager of the Quebec Jockey Club; QEORDC runner-up Stephane Brosseau and winner Nick Boyd; Nathalie Roy and Yannick Corriveau of the Quebec Jockey Club.
Boyd, who was the 2025 leading driver at Kawartha Downs winning 44 races at the summer Fraserville, Ont. oval, will be riding this high to next month's NDC with hopes of coming out on top and joining reigning World Driving Champion James MacDonald in representing Canada in the next international event, which will take place in Canada in 2027.
"You know, it's funny, I watched a good friend of mine, James MacDonald, win the North America Cup last night, and he mentioned how he never thought he'd win, and he was driving at Kawartha," continued the 42-year-old resident of Guelph, Ont., who has 475 career victories in the sulky. "Well, this is like the same moment for me; I never imagined I'd win something like this, you know, just driving at Kawartha, but here we are, and I'm going to cherish every minute of it leading up to Clinton."
Robert Shepherd, who was a close third in the 2024 NDC, was the only other two-time winner in Sunday's challenge races and finished third with 52 points. Denis St. Pierre, Pascal Berube and William Roy each drove a winner in the competition, which also included Marie-Claude Auger and Ryan Guy.
Boyd and Brosseau join the NDC lineup that currently includes 2026 Ontario Regional champion Tyler Borth and runner-up Jody Jamieson along with 2026 Western Regional champion Phil Giesbrecht and runner-up Kelly Hoerdt. The final two drivers will be determined during the Atlantic Regional on Tuesday, June 23 at Red Shores Summerside in Summerside, P.E.I.
QEORDC Final Point Totals
Nick Boyd - 63
Stephane Brosseau - 59
Robert Shepherd - 52
Denis St. Pierre - 45
Pascal Berube - 42
William Roy - 38
Marie-Claude Auger - 36
Ryan Guy - 35
Here's how the action unfolded on Sunday in the eight-race driving challenge:
QEORDC Leg 1 (Race 3)
Hippodrome 3R's longtime leading driver Pascal Berube opened the eight-race competition by sending trainer Alain Filion's pacing mare TJ All The Way ($6) first-up approaching the half and taking a brief two-hole tuck down the backstretch before catching American Rhythm (Nick Boyd), whose killer crossover move from the outside post at the start landed her the role of pacesetter in the race. TJ All The Way reeled in American Rhythm in the stretch and won by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:59.3. HF Agent Andreoli (Ryan Guy) rounded out the top three. The favoured Godro Bets Off (William Roy) broke stride in the first quarter.
QEORDC Leg 2 (Race 4)
Driver Nick Boyd was back on the front end in the second leg with his first draft pick and the 1-5 favourite, Kinnder Colosse ($2.50), and this time he held off Pascal Berube, driving Lightning Sena, by three-quarters of a length, with Woodmere Rebel (Marie-Claude Auger) the only other contender heading for home and finishing third off a pocket trip. Trained by Alexane Laroche, three-year-old pacing gelding Kinnder Colosse led the strung out field in his 1:59.2 victory to remain undefeated in two career starts and put Boyd atop the leaderboard in a tie with Berube.
QEORDC Leg 3 (Race 5)
Robert Shepherd struck in the third leg after getting in the mix early with pylon starter Little Diamond ($8), a six-year-old pacing gelding trained by Guy Roy. After Stock (Nick Boyd) and Odds On Carmel (William Roy) took turns on the front during the contested opening panel, Shepherd moved back out for the retake with his charge and cleared with a quarter-mile to go en route to the 1:56.1 victory by three-quarters of a length. Windsun Hudson (Denis St. Pierre) rallied into contention to pick up the chase as they rounded the final turn and finished second while Almost There Boss (Stephane Brosseau) bested Odds On Carmel in a tight show finish well behind the winner. Pascale Berube took a slight lead in the point standings over Boyd, with Shepherd moving into the top three.
QEORDC Leg 4 (Race 6)
Denis St. Pierre delivered with his first draft pick in the fourth leg as Frisky Hill ($7.10) emerged from an early first-quarter tussle between foes with the lead and the four-year-old pacing gelding took a new lifetime mark of 1:57 for trainer Vanessa Boisvert Dontigny. Always B Kris (Stephane Brosseau) rallied three-wide off stalled cover down the backstretch the final time and finished second over pocket chaser Siddhartha (Marie-Claude Auger) three lengths behind the winner. St. Pierre jumped to second in the tournament standings with his winning performance, sitting four points off leader Pascal Berube (33-29) at the halfway mark.
QEORDC Leg 5 (Race 7)
Trailing in the points entering the fifth leg, William Roy stepped up his game with the parked-from-the-start Wicked Discovery ($17.50), who was able to sustain a first-over bid, turning back two wide attempts to pass by Jk American Beauty (Denis St. Pierre) and eventually putting away the pacesetting Shanghaibluebeach (Pascal Berube) in the stretch. Trainer Yannick Marquis's five-year-old pacing mare scored in 1:58.1 by 1-1/4 lengths, with Butterfly Catcher (Nick Boyd) and My Last Kiss (Marie-Claude Auger) rallying from the backfield for the minor spoils. With his runner-up finish, Boyd edged ahead of Berube (37-36) atop the leaderboard.
QEORDC Leg 6 (Race 8)
The sixth leg ended in a photo finish with Stephane Brosseau getting the win in rein to his former trainee Lets Get Pickled ($10.30), prevailing in 1:58.1 in his first start from the Jean-Francois Reid stable. Brosseau slid the 10-year-old pacing gelding out from the pocket behind first-over favourite Mr John (Nick Boyd), as that rival battled up front with Forever Fav (Ryan Guy), then angled to a clear path in the stretch to steal the glory in the final strides. Lets Get Pickled headed Mr John for the win while Delco Dynamo (Denis St. Pierre) shot through inside to take third a quarter-length behind. Brosseau moved into second in the tournament standings while Boyd remained atop the leaderboard (47-43).
QEORDC Leg 7 (Race 9)
Robert Shepherd became the first driver to double up in the challenge, winning the penultimate leg with trainer Serge Nadeau's Preferred pacer JK Party ($6). Stepping up to the $7,000 top class, the four-year-old gelding earned his third straight win in 1:55.1 after clearing to command from post six past the quarter and keeping 2-5 favourite Light The Torch (Ryan Guy) at bay by a quarter-length in a stretch duel. Doc Houston rounded out the top three in the race for Stephane Brosseau, who took a one-point advantage atop the tournament standings over Nick Boyd with one leg to go (49-48) with Shepherd in the hunt third.
QEORDC Leg 8 (Race 10)
Nick Boyd edged out Stephane Brosseau in a final stretch showdown to win the final race and take the QEORDC title. Boyd had GA Speed Gabby ($15.40) hot on the Brosseau helmet throughout the final leg and pounced from the pocket to defeat Brosseau's first draft pick, the 1-9 favourite Joltin Joe, after those two squared off in a stretch duel. The Alain Carrier-trained 10-year-old pacer prevailed in 1:56.3 by 1-1/4 lengths at the end. Robert Shepherd, the only other two-time winner in the challenge, drove third-place finisher Miltary Man in the last leg and rounded out the top three point-earners overall.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
A replay of the QEORDC from Hippodrome 3R is available below.
(Standardbred Canada)