Albert Alpha pulled off a 25-1 upset in the second round of the Series Quebecoises for older pacers, defeating 1-9 favourite The Light Speed and opening leg winner Bets Beach with a career-best performance during the Sunday, June 15 matinee at Hippodrome 3R.
Albert Alpha trailed a field of seven across the wire in the opening round last week but was put in play right at the start this time out. With a pair of pacers leaving to his outside in the $6,000 division for male pacers, driver William Roy protected pylon position into the first turn with Albert Alpha to establish the lead. They set fractions of :28 and :57.3 while The Light Speed (Jocelyn Gendron) popped the pocket with a lap to go. With pressure from The Light Speed mounting to three-quarters in 1:25.4 and Bets Beach (Pascal Berube) rallying three-wide turning for home, Albert Alpha dug in and held them off in the stretch, taking a new lifetime mark of 1:55.1 in the process.
Albert Alpha's backers cashed $52.90 for a $2 win ticket. The Light Speed was the runner-up with Bets Beach third.
Trainer Sylvain Tremblay co-owns the winning Hes Watching-Stirling Breeze gelding with Yvon Laprise of Jonquiere, Que., and Yves Laprise of Ste-Brigitte De Laval, Que. The five-year-old pacer added a victory to his three on-the-board finishes in six starts this year and improved his lifetime record to 9-11-15 in 59 starts while bumping his bankroll to $66,813.
Driver Steven Gagnon's pacing mare Kiss Me Bad was a repeat winner in the distaff series with a winning quarter-pole move.
Gagnon looped Kiss Me Bad around inside leaver Better Kissthe Men (Simon Deslisle) after a :28.1 opening quarter and never looked back, setting middle splits of :58 and 1:27.1 en route to the 1:56.2 triumph by 2-3/4 lengths. Better Kissthe Men settled for second and Mach N Blue Cheez (Antoine Desrochers) finished third after an unsuccessful first-over bid during the final lap.
Sent postward as the overwhelming 1-9 favourite following her victory in the opening round, Kiss Me paid $2.20 to win.
Trained by Daniel Mondou, the Badlands Hanover-Helen Of Troy mare is now two-for-three in her nine-year-old campaign and earned her 27th career win while lifting her bankroll to $117,947.
Drawing away from Kiss Me Bad with the mares division split into two races, Mach N Cheddar established a commanding lead early that set her up for success.
Trained and driven by David Pilon, Mach N Cheddar fired off a :28.3 opening panel as she crossed to command from the outside post five and opened up a quick 5-3/4-length lead by the quarter pole. She stole a second quarter breather to the half in :59.3 and raced by three-quarters in 1:28.4 before cruising home safe from pocket-popper Ronda Du Lac (Pascal Berube) by three-quarters of a length in 1:58.1. Godro Bets Off (Stephane Brosseau) followed in third.
Mach N Cheddar, who finished third in her season's debut behind Kiss Me Bad in the opening leg, was the 4-5 favourite and paid $3.60 to win.
Locally owned and bred by Jean Barrette, the five-year-old daughter of Betterthancheddar out of Show Business now boasts 10 career wins from 24 starts, with earnings of $28,071.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(Standardbred Canada)