With one of the most impressive three-wide sweeps from last place after the half mile in harness racing, Decret Justiciale and trainer/driver Denis Filion was able to collar pacesetter Margarita Bi in the stretch and go on to win the feature trot at the Hippodrome 3R Tuesday evening.
The ninth race main event was billed with the two track record holders, Margarita Bi and Decret Justiciale, going to do battle, but few thought the race would go as it did.
Margarita Bi and owner/driver Denis St. Pierre took the early lead away from Easy Virtue (Patrick Richer) by the opening quarter mile in :28.4 and then led the field to the half mile in :58.4. At that point Bel Gazou (Martin Gingras) came first-over and gave outside cover to Erge Baboche (Stephane Brosseau) as the field raced around the third turn and headed to the backstretch.
Once the field reached the backstretch was when Denis Filion took Decret Justiciale from dead last in eighth place and sent his trotter three-wide and he was able to work his way despite the long journey, up to third place on the final turn after passing the three-quarters in 1:28.1. Then after they straightened out for the stretch drive to the wire, Decret Justiciale still had momentum and kicked in another gear to not only collar Margarita Bi in mid-stretch, but pass her by to win by one length in 1:57.4. Bel Gazou was able to hold on for third.
It was the second straight win and sixth victory in nine starts this year for Decret Justiciale. The five-year-old gelded son of Justice Hall is owned by Danielle Levac of St Augustin-Mirabel, QC and paid $2.90 to win.
In the seventh race feature pace, Windham Hanover and trainer/driver Norman Beaudoin were able to lead from start to finish and win with ease by two lengths in 1:55.2. That was the fastest mile of the evening as Windham Hanover posted his second victory this season and paid $17.80 to win.
It was a big night at the office for driver Steeven Genois who made five trips to victory line on the 10-race card. He clicked with G Zattara (1:58 in Race 3), Fortune Fever (1:57.4 in Race 4), Ken U Sing (1:59.4 in Race 5), Coraggio Hanover (1:57.3 in Race 6) and Winoc Jimmy (1:56.4 in Race 8).
To view results for Tuesday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Tuesday Results – Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)