Me The Boss and harness racing driver Louis-Philippe Roy put in a game first-over effort and was able to not only collar Maximuscle, but beat him to the wire in capturing the third leg of the Quebec-Bred Series Tuesday at the Hippodrome 3R.
Louis-Philippe Roy was sensational in the sulky Tuesday as he won six of the eleven races he competed in, taking the lead in the driver standings away from Gaetan Lamy, 12 to 11.
Competing in a non-wagering division of the series for four- and five-year-old trotters, Maximuscle and driver Mario Charron were parked out early by Promesses Imperial (Jerome Lombart) to the opening quarter mile in :29.1. Charron was able to give Maximuscle a breather on the lead as they went to the half mile in :59.3, but then the action again picked up as Roy had Me The Boss on the move first-over and they collared Maximuscle by the three-quarters in 1:30.1.
Using the inside position, Charron regained the advantage on the final turn but then in a dramatic stretch drive, Roy was able to urge Me The Boss on in the stretch and gun down Maximuscle at the wire to win by a head in 1:59.2. Promesses Imperial was third.
It was the fourth win in 17 starts this year for Me The Boss. The five-year-old gelded son of Keystone Nordic is trained by Francis Richard for the Larocque Racing Stable of Thornhill, Ont.
It was a night for upsets in the Quebec-Bred Series with the race favourites both failing to make it back to the winner’s circle in the two divisions for trotting mares.
It was SOS Afterthestorm, at odds of 12-1, who took full advantage of an early break by the 1-4 favourite SOS Striking Monte (Charron) and not only went to the early lead for 3R’s leading driver this year, Gaetan Lamy, but scored in a romp by five open lengths in 2:03.
Leaving from post three, Lamy sent the five-year-old daughter of Justice Hall right to the front, cut fractions of :29.3 and 1:02 before Charron was able to come back first-over with SOS Striking Monte, but after collaring SOS Afterthestorm, SOS Striking Monte could not keep up the press at the three-quarters in 1:31.4 as Lamy’s mare started to pull away. The pocket-sitting Bambie Benjo (Louis-Philippe Roy) was second with SOS Striking Monte third. SOS Afterthestorm paid $26.40 to win.
It was the first win in five starts this year for SOS Afterthestorm, who is trained by Francine Morrissette and owned by Caalum Ian Anderson Macdonald of Halifax, NS.
Then in the second mare division of the series, also a non-wagering race, Viva Bayama regained her winning form for trainer/driver Carl Duguay with a game neck triumph over SOS Revange (Gaetan Lamy) in 2:02.2. Kim Sorel (Martin Gingras) was third.
Kim Sorel cut the mile with Double Chance (Sylvain Lacaille) in the pocket seat to the quarter in :30 and the half mile in 1:01.2. The action picked up as Lamy came first-over with SOS Revange and then by the three-quarters in 1:31.1, Duguay was second-over following Viva Bayama. Those two horses raced head and head down to the wire with Viva Bayama getting her first win in ten starts this year. She is owned by Elevage Baie De Chaleurs of Port-Daniel, QC.
In addition to winning six races on the program, Tuesday, driver Louis-Philippe Roy scored the highest priced winner of the season at 3R when he gave Iron Phil a perfect second-over trip in the ninth race at odds of 48-1, winning in the final strides and paying $99.40 for the victory.
Live racing resumes at 3R on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. with the third round of the Quebec-Bred Series for four- and five-year-old pacers.
For more information, free race programs and live racing via the internet, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.
(QJC)