On Sunday, June 4 at Hippodrome 3R in Quebec, Louis-Philippe Roy emerged victorious from the track’s second annual All-Star Drivers Tournament, which featured some of the continent’s top reinsmen vying for a (US) $10,000 prize.
Louis-Philippe Roy was the only driver in the field to earn points in each of the tournament’s eight legs. He only won one of the races (Leg 3 with Whitemountain Nemo), but recorded five second-place finishes.
Stephane Bouchard finished second, while Scott Zeron finished third.
In a post-event interview, Roy explained that he was confident heading into the tournament. He also commented on his mindset heading in.
“I wanted to be patient with all more horses,” Roy said. "I knew I had competitive horses, and I figured that the only way I could lose was if I lost it myself.”
Roy also stated that he will be back at Hippodrome 3R next weekend to contest some finals.
Stephane Bouchard and Highpoint Chip closed strongly in the final quarter to capture Leg 8 (Race 9) of Hippodrome 3R’s annual All-Star Drivers Tournament. Highpoint Chip nailed the wire in 1:56.3 and returned a $17.40 Win mutuel to his backers. Race 9 was an $8,000 Invitational Pace, which was the feature race of the card.
Sylvain Filion and Loves A Challenge prevailed in a photo finish to capture the seventh leg (Race 8) of the tournament. Loves A Challenge closed wide from the backfield after a front-end battle had softened up the leaders on the point. Loves A Challenge, who returned a $9.40 Win mutuel, stopped the clock in 1:57.4 and just finished in front of Lucky Cocktail, who was driven by Louis-Philippe Roy.
David Miller converted a two-hole trip with Windsong Louis and triumphed in the sixth leg (Race 7) of the tournament. Windsong Louis was sharp when asked late, and went on to score a convincing victory in a life’s best 1:56.3. He returned an $11.60 Win mutuel to his backers.
Stephane Bouchard and Maximus Decimus were strong while capturing Leg 5 (Race 6) of the tournament. The duo started from Post 5 and was dominant in victory. Maximus Decimus ($5.20) posted an open-length win and stopped the clock in 1:56.3.
Yannick Gingras and Federal Strike trotted a front-end trip and went on to capture the fourth leg (Race 5) of the tournament. Gingras had Federal Strike on his game on the engine, and the son of Federal Flex trotted to a life’s best 1:59.3 mile and returned an $11.10 Win mutuel.
Pilot Louis-Philippe Roy steered Whitemountain Nemo ($6.80) to victory in the third leg (Race 4) of the tournament. After having witnessed a skirmish on the front-end, Roy and Whitemountain Nemo, who had started the race from Post 7, made a move to the engine, captured the lead, and went on to nail the wire in 1:55.2.
Dan Dube and post-time choice Tidewater Tomahawk captured the second leg (Race 3) of the tournament. Dube and Tidewater Tomahawk went straight to the lead from Post 1 and went on to record a 1:56.2 victory.
Pilot Scott Zeron captured the opening leg (Race 2) of the tournament. Zeron pointed Rainbow Palace ($3.60) to the top from Post 4 and got things his way before stopping the clock in 1:55.3 for the open-length victory.
To view the harness racing results for Sunday at Hippodrome 3R, click the following link: Sunday Results – Hippodrome 3R.
Leg 1 (Race 2)
Rainbow Palace (driven by Scott Zeron)
(Finish – Driver – Points)
1 – Scott Zeron – 50
2 – Jody Jamieson – 25
3 – Stephane Bouchard – 12
4 – Dan Dube – 8
5 – Louis-Philippe Roy – 5
6 – Yannick Gingras – 2
Leg 2 (Race 3)
Tidewater Tomahawk (driven by Dan Dube)
(Finish – Driver – Points)
1 – Dan Dube – 50
2 – Scott Zeron – 25
3 – Louis-Philippe Roy – 12
4 – Stephane Bouchard – 8
5 – Sylvain Filion – 5
6 – Yannick Gingras – 2
Leg 3 (Race 4)
Whitemountain Nemo (driven by Louis-Philippe Roy)
(Finish – Driver – Points)
1 – Louis Philippe Roy – 50
2 – Scott Zeron – 25
3 – Stephane Bouchard – 12
4 – David Miller – 8
5 – Yannick Gingras – 5
6 – Sylvain Filion – 2
Leg 4 (Race 5)
Federal Strike (driven by Yannick Gingras)
(Finish – Driver – Points)
1 – Yannick Gingras – 50
2 – Louis-Philippe Roy – 25
3 – Dan Dube – 12
4 – Sylvain Filion – 8
5 – Scott Zeron – 5
6 – Jody Jamieson - 2
Leg 5 (Race 6)
Maximus Decimus (driven by Stephane Bouchard)
(Finish – Driver – Points)
1 – Stephane Bouchard – 50
2 – Louis-Philippe Roy – 25
3 – David Miller – 12
4 – Dan Dube – 8
5 – Scott Zeron – 5
6 – Jody Jamieson – 2
Leg 6 (Race 7)
Windsong Louis (driven by David Miller)
(Finish – Driver – Points)
1 – David Miller – 50
2 – Louis-Philippe Roy - 25
3 – Dan Dube - 12
4 – Jody Jamieson – 8
5 – Sylvain Filion – 5
6 – Yannick Gingras – 2
Leg 7 (Race 8)
Loves A Challenge (driven by Sylvain Filion)
(Finish – Driver – Points)
1 – Sylvain Filion – 50
2 – Louis-Philippe Roy – 25
3 – Stephane Bouchard – 12
4 – Dan Dube – 8
5 – Yannick Gingras – 5
6 – Jody Jamieson – 2
Leg 8 (Race 9)
Highpoint Chip (driven by Stephane Bouchard)
(Finish – Driver – Points)
1 – Stephane Bouchard – 50
2 – Louis-Philippe Roy – 25
3 – Sylvain Filion – 12
4 – Scott Zeron – 8
5 – Dan Dube – 5
6 – David Miller – 2
Hippodrome 3R’s second annual All-Star Drivers Tournament is set for today (Sunday, June 4), as eight of the continent’s top reinsmen will square off in eight races over the Quebec course.
The contest will take place during Races 2 through 9. First-race post time is 12:30 p.m.
Stephane Bouchard, Daniel Dube, Sylvain Filion, Yannick Gingras, Jody Jamieson, David Miller, Louis-Philippe Roy and Scott Zeron will battle it out for the $10,000 (US) prize purse.
“This is a superb group of drivers we have coming to H3R on June 4,” Claude Levesque, president of the Quebec Jockey Club, said when announcing the reinsmen a few weeks ago. “I know the harness racing fans not just in Quebec but throughout North America will want to see these great drivers compete in our tournament. It has become one of our biggest events at H3R.”
Each driver will start in Posts 1-8 once.
Points for the tournament are as follows:
1st – 50 points
2nd – 25 points
3rd – 12 points
4th – 8 points
5th – 5 points
6th – 2 points
No points will be awarded to the 7th and 8th-place finishers in the races. A driver with a horse that is scratched will receive the average points that they have earned in the tournament.
There will also be a special Meet & Greet (starting at 11:15 a.m.) before the start of the races where fans will be able to get autographs, photos and chat with all eight of the drivers. Live interviews with all eight drivers will take place in the winner’s circle throughout the afternoon.
Leading up to the event, officials with Hippodrome 3R installed pilot Louis-Philippe Roy as the ‘morning line favourite’ to win the tournament. For more information, click here.
Last year’s inaugural All-Star Drivers Tournament winner, Jody Jamieson, was able to pull away with the victory in the last race of the tournament and defeat John Campbell and Sylvain Filion. Earlier this week, Jamieson commented on the tournament. To read what Jamieson had to say, click here.
Driver Stephane Bouchard isn’t sure when he last raced in Quebec – his home province – but he knows that it’s been “too long.” While in discussion with Trot Insider, Bouchard said he thinks it was more than 15 years ago.
“I believe it was to drive On The Attack for Mark Ford (in the first Prix de Montreal, a short-lived stakes event for three-year-old pacers at Hippodrome de Montreal, which they won in 2001). I know it’s been a long time... too long.”
Who do you think will win Sunday's All Star Drivers Tournament at Hippodrome 3R? Have your say in the SC web poll.
For entries or to watch live, click one of the following links:
• Sunday Entries – Hippodrome 3R
• Program Pages – Hippodrome 3R – Sunday, June 4
• Watch Live