The winningest horse at Hippodrome 3R this season is Stella Alpha and she crossed the finish line first as the overwhelming 1-9 race favourite on Friday afternoon (July 29), but was taken down for interference in the stretch against second-place finisher HP Felicity, who thus inherited the victory.
This all took place in the eighth race co-feature, the $10,000 second leg filly division of the Breeders Trophy Series for three-year-old trotters.
Stella Alpha has been penned the “Princess of Trot” at 3R this season. Trained by Sylvain Tremblay and driven by Pascal Berube, she sports seven wins this season in 14 starts, six of those wins right at 3R and she owns the track record with a 1:58 mark.
The race began with Stella Alpha leaving from the rail to take command of the field for Berube with Cleveland Moneyka (Stephane Brosseau) getting the pocket trip. Stella Alpha cut fractions of :29.3 and 1:00.4 before anyone took a shot at her.
HP Felicity and driver Robert Shepherd came first-over in the backstretch and kept gaining ground past the three-quarters in 1:31. On that final turn, fans could see Berube having some difficulty keeping Stella Alpha together.
As the fillies turned for home, Stella Alpha and HP Felicity were neck and neck when the wheels of the two horses banged off each other. Stella Alpha continued straight but HP Felicity bore out and lost ground, finishing second by 1-3/4 lengths. The time of the race was 2:00. Cleveland Monkeyka was third.
After the finish, Shepherd filed a claim of foul and after the judges viewed all the different angles, which the fans could also watch, they deemed that Stella Alpha did leave the path she was following down the stretch and interfered with HP Felicity, promoting that filly to first.
The win was the second this year from nine starts for HP Felicity. The Muscle Mass filly is trained by Isabelle Darveau for owners/breeders Claude Hamel and Michel Damphousse. She paid $15.90 to win.
In the fourth race $10,000 Breeders Trophy Series for the colt and gelding trotters, Royalty Beer, the 2021 Quebec champion two-year-old, returned to winning form for driver Kevin Maguire, leading from start to finish.
With Sammy Justice (Pascal Berube) sitting the two-hole trip, Royalty Beer cut fractions of :30.3 and 1:01.1 before Kenogami Rebel (Stephane Brosseau) came first-over with Cleveland Massimo (Robert Shepherd) second-over until Kenogami Rebel dropped into a hole, leaving Cleveland Massimo first-over after the three-quarters in 1:30.4.
Down the stretch, Royalty Beer was home free, winning by 1-1/4 lengths in 2:00.4 over Sammy Justice with Cleveland Massimo, who raced as part of an entry with Royalty Beer, third.
The win was the second of the season from nine starts for Royalty Beer, a Royalty For Life gelding who is trained and co-owned by Jean-Francois Maguire with breeder Ecuries Maguire Inc. He paid $2.80 to win.
Kiss Me Bad and owner/trainer/driver Steven Gagnon flew three-wide in the backstretch, cleared to the lead at the top of the stretch and then posted a five-length victory in the $7,000 Mares Preferred 2 Pace. The victory was her first in five starts this year and the time of the mile was 1:55.3, a lifetime mark. She paid $13.80 to win.
Catherine Lafrance celebrated her first training win mid-card as the four-year-old pacing mare Clear The Credit prevailed by a head in a four-across finish for a 16-1 upset in the $4,700 fifth race with Gagnon aboard. The time of the mile was 2:00.1. Lafrance shares ownership of the winner with Maxime Dubuc.
Track Notes: Both Gagnon and Berube scored driving doubles. Live racing returns Sunday afternoon at 3R with the second leg of the Breeders Trophy Series for three-year-old pacers. First race post time is 12 noon.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)