The third and final preliminary legs of the Quebec-Bred Series for four and five-year-olds was held Sunday (July 8) at the Hippodrome 3R.
Sunday’s round was the most important leg of the series, as participants vied for points to ensure they made the $30,000 finals. The finals will take place on a special Thursday night race card at ‘H3R’ on August 9.
In the third race – which was the first division of the Quebec-Bred Series for horses – it was the 2017 champion, Wildriverbumblebee (driven by Stephane Brosseau), who sped out to the early lead over Dance With Joe (Daniel Dulude). They reached the opening quarter mile marker in :27.3.
Content to sit the pocket trip, Dance With Joe followed Wildriverbumblebee to the half mile marker in :57.4. It was then that driver Pascal Berube made his move first-over with HP Patriote, as C L Sportaction (Jonathan Lachance) was following second-over.
The duo raced up the backstretch, and HP Patriote slowly gained ground on the leaders prior to the three-quarters of a mile post, which was passed in 1:27. Then the action really heated up.
Danel Dulude wisely backed out of the two-hole trip and swung three-wide to try and loop the leaders. Wildriverbumblebee began to fade as they started down the stretch, but HP Patriote still had strong momentum and was able to hold off Dance With Joe to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:56.1. Wildriverbumblebee held for third place.
It was the sixth win this year for HP Patriote, a four-year-old gelding by Vintage Master that is trained by Gerard Demers. He is owned by Les Ecuries GLF, Inc. of St. Andre-Avelin and Claude Hamel of Ayers Cliff and paid $5.80 to win. HP Patriote was the Quebec-Series champion in 2016 at age three.
In the Quebec-Bred Series race for mares, it was a story lead changes.
It started out with Queen Elsa (Stephane Gendron) going to the early lead with Skyfall Sena (Jonathan Lachance) getting the pocket-seat. Although, before the opening quarter mile in :28.1, Imagine Speed (Tyler Jones) was first-over and cleared to the lead, only to have Queen Else and Gendron re-take control of the race.
Then, after the half mile marker in :58, Art De Gagnee (Pierre Luc Roy) came first-over. Imagine Speed then started to fade in the pocket and Art De Gagnee dropped into the two-hole, still behind Queen Elsa.
In the backstretch, it was Wild River Swan (Francis Picard) ending up first-over at the three-quarters in 1:27. Then Queen Elsa began to fade on the final turn, which put Wild River Swan on the lead with Art De Gagnee coming after her. Three-wide from the back of the pack was HP Sissy and driver Stephane Brosseau.
But they did not have enough momentum to catch Wild River Swan, who pulled off the upset win by one and three-quarter lengths in 1:57.4 over HP Sissy and Art De Gagnee.
It was the second win from five starts this year for Wild River Swan. She is the older sister (by one year) of Wildriverbumblebee. Both are sired by Sportswriter and are out of the Mach Three mare Alcor Semalu. She is trained by Harold Duguay and is owned by Dr. John Bradbury of Brookshire-Eaton. She paid $31.30 to win.
Pascal Berube was on fire at H3R Sunday, as he won four races on the program. Stephane Brosseau had three wins and trainer Charles Gaudreault sent out two winners from his stable.
Track Notes: There is a change in post time for this Tuesday, July 10 at H3R. Post time will be 7:15 pm, 45 minutes later than normal due to a motorcycle event next to the racetrack.
Tuesday’s card will feature the final leg of the Quebec-Bred Series for four and five-year-old trotters. Top trotters entered include Kinnder Dangerous, KFB Amigo Cool, Capteur De Reve, Y S Suzanne and EAU Naturelle.
Please remember post time Tuesday is at 7:15 pm. For more information or a free race program, visit quebecjockeyclub.com.
To view the harness racing results for Sunday at H3R, click the following link: Sunday Results – Hippodrome 3R.
(Quebec Jockey Club)