On Sunday afternoon (June 26), the good trotter Maximuscle will be saying “Au Revoir” to the racing fans at the Hippodrome 3R as he makes his final appearance in the $120,000 finals of the Quebec-Bred Series.
No, the five-year-old gelded son of Angus Hall from the Promising Catch mare Iceberg Angus is not retiring from racing, but this is Maximuscle’s last Quebec-Bred Championship that he will ever get to compete in.
What makes this such a special race is that currently Maximuscle is one of the only horses ever in the history of the Quebec-Bred Series to never lose a championship final. He won it at age two, three and four and is the race favourite in his finale Sunday.
Owned and bred by Guy Corbeil’s Ecurie Provoquante of Mirabel, Que., Maximuscle is the 5-2 morning line favourite in the third race $30,000 final for trotting horses on Sunday. He will be driven by Mario Charron, who has driven the horse throughout his career.
Lifetime, Maximuscle has 44 starts, 24 wins, four seconds and four third-place finishes, plus over $210,000 in earnings. For the past two seasons, he has been trained by Maxime Velaye of Mirabel.
“He [Maximuscle] was trained at age two and three by Eric Valiquette,” explained Velaye. “The other trainer was quitting the job and Guy Corbeil called me if I was interested to come back to Quebec and train his stable, which included Maximuscle.
“It didn’t take me long to think about it,” Velaye joked. “My answer right away was yes. I had been in Ontario for seven years and it was time to come back home to Quebec.”
It was Maximuscle and the Provoquante Stable that helped Velaye win his first training title at the Hippodrome 3R last year. Maximuscle finished the 2015 season with nine wins, mostly at 3R.
“He is really a sweetheart around the barn,” Velaye said. “He does nothing wrong. The real love story is he and his driver Mario Charron. Mario has driven him most of his career, every time, every race at 3R. Mario always tells me he is his favourite horse to drive and I can understand why after all those wins!”
Velaye says he has no plans for the future for Maximuscle after his race on Sunday.
“More than likely he will race some at Rideau Carlton and maybe if he is going good we will try him at Mohawk Raceway too or maybe come back again at 3R if the conditions are right.
“It will be sad for me after the race on Sunday,” Velaye said. “But perhaps more for Mario and Guy. This horse has been so super, but trotters do get better with age so we hope he can race for years to come and do well.”
When Maximuscle gets behind the starting gate on Sunday, he will face two formidable foes in Me The Boss and track record holder from last year and Quebec Series champion three-year-old Seeyou Men.
Me The Boss has raced against Maximuscle since they both were age two in the Quebec Series. He beat Maximuscle in a preliminary division of the series by a neck, but Maximuscle turned the tables last week in the final preliminary rounds. Me The Boss starts from the rail for driver Louis-Philippe Roy and trainer Francis Richard.
Seeyou Men, trained by Isabelle Darveau and driven by Robert Shepherd, starts from post three in the final. He made a clean sweep of the Quebec Series last year at age three, setting a track record with his 1:58.4 triumph in the final. He lost the first round of the series against Maximuscle by a head, then came back to win a division against Me The Boss.
Who does Maxime Velaye see as Maximuscle’s biggest threat in the race?
“I’m gonna say Me The Boss is the horse I fear the most,” Velaye said. “Because he beat us once and I know his trainer will have him ready to rock the house Sunday. I am good friends with his trainer Francis Richard.”
Regardless of the outcome on Sunday, Velaye tells us we have not seen the last of the Maximuscle family at the Hippodrome 3R.
“I have Maximuscle’s full brother, Intouchable, and younger sisters, Éclair Chocolat [age three] and Affirmee [age two],” Velaye said. “Intouchable has all the tools to make a good horse, but he needs to mind his manners.
"Éclair Chocolat is ready to compete in the Breeders Cup Series at 3R that gets underway July 5 and the little full sister, Affirmee, is only a two-year-old, but training very well and she reminds me of Maximuscle a lot.”
So Maximuscle may be saying “Au Revoir” to the Quebec-Bred Series at the Hippodrome 3R, but trainer Maxie Velaye has plenty of brothers and sisters to carry on the winning tradition in the coming months.
To view Sunday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Sunday Entries - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from QJC)