There were two $10,000 divisions of the opening round of the Breeders Trophy Series for three-year-old trotters Friday at Hippodrome 3R and the race favourites in each division broke stride.
The fastest division belonged to the colts that competed in the sixth race. With favourite Babidibou out of the race early, it was Kenogami Coco and driver Stephane Brosseau who went right to the early lead with Laval Titan (Pascal Berube) sitting the pocket-seat to the opening quarter mile in :28.1.
Brosseau was able to back down the speed to the half mile in :59.3 and that was when the action began to heat up as Frido PV and trainer/driver Yves St Jacques came first-over against Kenogami Coco. Those two raced neck and neck to the three-quarters in 1:28.4.
On the final turn, Berube fanned three-wide with Laval Titan and that made it a three-horse race to the finish, but Kenogami Coco proved to be too tough, pulling away in deep stretch for a two and one-half length triumph in 1:58.3. Laval Titan was second with Frido PV third.
It was the first win of the year in six starts for Kenogami Coco. The gelded son of Wheeling N Dealin is trained by Dany Fontaine for breeder-owner Jane Francois and Marie Claude Reid of Anjou. The winner paid $7.20 to win.
In the third race, the $10,000 filly division of the Breeders Trophy Series, 23-1 long shot Anotherdeal and driver Sylvain Lacaille went right to the early lead with Miss Melodie (Stephane Gendron) sitting the two-hole pocket seat.
The 1-9 race favourite, Kinnder High Class, with driver Pierre Luc Roy came charging up first-over but before the opening quarter mile Kinnder High Class broke stride and was out of the race.
Anotherdeal had things her own way on the front end until the top of the stretch when Gendron moved Miss Melodie to the outside and went on to win in 2:03.4. Finishing second with a remarkable comeback was Kinnder High Class, losing by just one and one-lengths. Anotherdeal was third.
It was a lifetime mark for Miss Melodie. The daughter of Prestidigitator is trained by Maxime Velaye for breeder/owner Determination Stable of Montreal. She paid $7.10 to win.
Unbeaten Enavant ($3.40) became the winningest horse at H3R this season, scoring his fifth straight win in the seventh race pace for driver Stephane Gendron and H3R’s leading trainer Maxime Velaye. Enavant covered the one-mile race in a lifetime best 1:56.4.
With a driving double Friday, Stephane Gendron moved within one win of leading driver Pascal Berube, 22-21. Daniel Laflame also had a driving double. Trainer Maxime Velaye also had a double and leads the training standings with 10 wins.
Live racing resumes at the Hippodrome 3R on Sunday with first race post time at 1:00 p.m. Featured will be the opening round of the Future Stars Series for two-year-old pacers. There are two divisions for the colts and the fillies.
(Quebec Jockey Club)
To view results for Friday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Friday Results – Hippodrome 3R.