Defending Quebec stakes champion The Magic Moment and Silver Majesty both repeated in their divisions of the second Trophée Des Éleveurs preliminary leg for sophomore trotters on Sunday, July 20 at Hippodrome 3R.
The Magic Moment, a 1-9 favourite, captured the sole $10,000 division for colts and geldings. He grabbed control coming off the first turn at the behest of driver Jonathan Lachance and had things his way through :29.1 and :59.3 first-half splits. Winchester Phoneix (Stephane Brosseau) was the first to leave the cones, taking off from third to challenge the pacesetter through three-quarters in 1:28.4. They were nose-to-nose at that third station and battled around the far turn, but The Magic Moment edged away at the top of the stretch and won by three-quarters of a length in 1:57.3. Changement Detemps (Simon Delisle) was third.
The Magic Moment, a Control The Moment-Wind River Cat gelding, has won six of 10 career appearances, including all five lifetime starts in the Quebec-bred stakes series. Francis Guillemette trains him for Gestion A&A Belanger Inc. and Cynthia Cote Dupont.
Silver Majesty was the fastest of the three division winners, leading every step as the 1-9 favourite in the second filly split which carried a purse of $7,500. The Jean-Francois Maguire trainee, driven by Denis St. Pierre, was untouchable on top through :27.2, :57.1, and 1:26.3 sections. Coeuratout Du Lac (Pierre-Luc Roy) emerged from the pocket and gave her a race down the stretch, but Silver Majesty held her off by a half-length for the 1:55.2 win. Islamabad (Francis Picard) rounded out the top three. Silver Majesty, a daughter of All Bets Off-Acaena De Chakrika is two-for-two in the Trophée Des Éleveurs this year for owners Silver Stables and Marie Michelle Gaboury. The filly has racked up 10 wins in 19 lifetime outings.
Mirabel Enfete, who won the Coupe de L’Avenir last season, got back on track after a fourth-place finish in her seasonal debut as she snagged the first $7,500 filly division. Leaving out for Delisle, she went to the front and managed the first-half tempo to splits of :29.2 and 1:01. Dominant first prelim winner Justine Ray (Lachance) then loomed first-up from the half to three-quarters in 1:30, aiming for a repeat of last week’s performance. She battled into the lane but was unable to overhaul Mirabel Enfete, who pulled away late to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:59.2. Justine Ray was a comfortable second, followed by Wicked Munky (Brosseau). Mirabel Enfete is trained by Maxime Velaye for owner/breeder Guy Corbeil. The Leader Bayama-Eloge filly is now three-for-eight lifetime. She returned $18.30 to win.
The next Trophée Des Éleveurs prelims for three-year-old trotters of both sexes are set for August 1.
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of The Magic Moment winning on July 20)