Track record holder Pablo Angus came up a bit short in trying to win his 2014 debut at the Hippodrome 3R as Whitewater Rapids took the feature trotting event on Sunday. Pablo Angus finished fourth.
It was Taurus Du Parc and driver Francois Cleroux who started off the fourth race co-feature by going right to the lead and cutting the fractions to the first quarter in :29.1 and then to the half-mile in 1:01. But already on the move and taking over command was the race favourite, Whitewater Rapids and driver/trainer Guy Gagnon, who came first-over after the first quarter and was able to clear by Tauru Du Parc after the half-mile marker.
From there on it was no longer a contest to see who would be the winner as by the three-quarter pole in 1:30, Whitewater Rapids already had a two length lead and coming down the stretch they turned it on to win by five and three-quarter lengths in 2:00.1. Ghirardelli Lindy (Jocelyn Gendron) was second with Close The Light (Michel Audet) grabbing third-place.
Shipping in from Rideau Carleton Raceway, the win was the third this year for Whitewater Rapids. The six-year-old stallion by Credit Winner is owned by Ecuries Guy Gagnon Inc. of Gatineau, Que. and paid $4.80 to win.
Sunday also featured the final preliminary rounds of the Quebec-Bred Series for four and five-year-old trotters and pacers. Now the top eight point-earners in the series for each division per sex and gait will return next Sunday, June 8 for the $35,000 finals in each class.
Highlights in the series action saw track record holder Duc Dorleans cut the mile, but then get caught at the finish by the pocket-sitting McKinney (Denis St. Pierre), who came on to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:54.2, the fastest mile on the 10-race program.
Other series winners were Domino Cybele, Ocean Mist Beauty, My Tallia Ideal, Canbec Kangourou, and Decret Justiciale.
The win payoff average at Hippodrome 3R continues to rise and lead many of the tracks in North America. Now after 71 races this meet, the average win price is at $12.83, mainly thanks to Jolts Prayer and driver Jocelyn Gendron, who upset the field in the eighth race pace at odds of 46-1, paying $94.70 to win.
Live racing resumes at Hippodrome 3R on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, the Quebec Jockey Club’s teletheatre network extends to the National Capital Region with the opening of its 10th teletheatre Monday at noon in Gatineau.
The establishment in the Bar Sportif La Zone at 381 Maloney Blvd E. (Highway 148), is owned by Denis Godin, well known businessman in Gatineau.
Gatineau joins Laval, Quebec City, Boucherville, Pointe Claire, Sherbrooke, Châteauguay and Montreal (Place Dupuis, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Decarie Square) as part of the QJC network affiliated with Hippodrome 3R in Trois-Rivieres.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from QJC)