Racing against the best trotters in Quebec, Seeyou Men proved to be the strong horse, grinding out an impressive win Friday at the Hippodrome 3R in the Quebec-Bred Series for older trotters.
This was the second round of the series and featured just one large field of 10 starters in the older horse division.
Kinnder Dangerous and driver Justin Filion were the first on the lead around the first turn until Wildwild Men and trainer/driver Guy Gagnon came charging up on the outside to take the lead by the opening quarter mile in :28. Seeyou Men and driver Stephane Brosseau got away behind Kinnder Dangerous early.
Then by the half-mile marker in :58.2, Brosseau came first-over with Seeyou Men and started gaining ground by the three-quarters in 1:28.1 with Capteur De Reve (Stephane Gendron) grabbing the second-over cover.
As they came around the final turn, Maximuscle came into the picture for driver Steeve Genois, sweeping three-wide and into contention.
Seeyou Men would have the final say as he had cleared to the lead coming down the stretch and then pulled away to win by two and three-quarter lengths in 1:58.2.
It took the photo finish camera to declare the winner’s full brother, Wildwild Men, as the second-place finisher. He was a nose ahead of Capteur De Reve in third-place and the show horse was a nose ahead of Maximuscle in fourth-place.
Seeyou Men, trained by Daniel Martin, raced as an entry with his brother, Wildwild Men, both of whom were bred by Chantal Gravel of St-Cyrille-De-Wendover and are co-owned with Catheline Pelletier of Mirabel, Que. The entry paid $2.90 to win.
In the third race division for the trotting mares, it was the race favourite, Lucky Promesses and driver Steeve Genois, leaving from the rail and going right to the top.
Kascara Rosa and driver Stephane Brosseau grabbed the two-hole spot and sat patiently as Lucky Promesses cut fractions of :29, :59.4 and 1:29.3 to the three-quarters. Y S Suzanne (Guy Gagnon) tried coming first-over in the backstretch but did not have the stamina to hang on the outside and faded back on the final turn.
With Y S Suzanne fading as they started down the stretch, that was the cue as Brosseau came out with Kascara Rosa and started to challenge Lucky Promesses, collaring the race lead and going on to win by a half-length in 2:00.1. Eau Naturelle (Simon Delisle) was third.
A nine-year-old mare by Kadabra, Kascara Rosa posted her fourth win on the year for trainer Yves Tessier and owner/breeder Jean Dessureault of Candiac. She paid $7.70 to win.
Track Notes: Stephane Brosseau had a driving double and trainer Yves Tessier sent out two winners on Friday. The Ben Hur Cup II headlines Sunday’s 10-race program with Ontario’s Doug McNair taking on Quebec’s Louis-Philippe Roy with a $3,000 cash prize to the winner of the eight-race competition. In addition, there will be three divisions of the second round of the Quebec-Bred Series for older pacers with top horses Atomic Million AM taking on McKinney, and for the mares, YS Tallia against Lit De Rose.
First race post time Sunday is 1 p.m. For a free program, visit quebecjockeyclub.com.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)