Sophomores starred in the fourth round of the Trophée des Éleveurs Series at Hippodrome 3R on Sunday, Aug. 24, with Silver Majesty still perfect in the pacing filly division.
Silver Majesty continued her perfect preliminary streak, taking the $10,000 fourth leg division for the pacing fillies in 1:56.2 for driver Denis St. Pierre and trainer Jean-Francois Maguire. Silver Majesty gave way to outside leaver Mirabel Enfete (Simon Delisle) then retook at the :27.2 quarter mark, cruising uncontested the rest of the way through middle splits of :57.3 and 1:27.1 en route to the four-length victory. Mirabel Enfete chased in second and Serenity Road (Sylvain Lacaille) came on for third. Silver Majesty paid $2.10 to win as the 1-9 favourite. Owned by Silver Stables and Marie Michelle Gaboury, the All Bets Off-Acaena De Chakrika filly, who was a runner-up to Mirabel Enfete in last year's Coupe de L'Avenir championship, has emerged as the division's leader and is now eight-for-12 overall this year.
Soleo ended Miche Charm's chances at a series sweep in the trotting filly division, rallying three-wide off cover turning for home and defeating that front-stepping foe with a :29 final frame for the 2:01.2 upset in rein to Simon Delisle. Soleo returned $15.50 to win as the 6-1 shot bested 6-5 second choice Miche Charm (Pascal Berube) by half a length while 4-5 favoured Chic Choc Rose (Marie-Claude Auger), pocketed in an early duel, followed 1-3/4 lengths behind in third. Maxime Velaye trains Ecurie Provoquante's homebred daughter of Muscle Mass out of Cor Leo who has been in the hunt with top three showings through the three earlier preliminary legs and entered the fourth round off back-to-back victories at Rideau Carleton Raceway.
Denis St. Pierre got another stakes score as trainer Michel Allard's homebred Mass Speed was a 2:00 wire-to-wire winner in the male trotting division, drawing off in the stretch by more than half a dozen lengths, with Royalty B N (Sylvain Fontaine) inheriting second when pocket pursuer HP Lucas (Pascal Berube) broke stride turning for home and the first-over Cleveland Z Flash (Robert Shepherd) faded to third. Mass Speed, last year's Coupe d l'Avenir divisional champion, has won three of his four starts in the sophomore stakes series and rebounded from a fourth-place finish in the last leg with a career-best 1:59.1 victory against older foes in 3R's Preferred last week. The Muscle Mass-Missionoftheheart gelding paid $2.50 to win as the 1-5 favourite.
Monsieur Panic doubled up against the male pacers, circling a five-horse field and taking command with a quarter-mile to go then expanding his winning margin into the double digits. Pascal Berube drove the Control The Moment-Three For The Lady gelding to the 1:57.2 triumph for trainer Daniel Martin, who also co-owns with Dominique Michel. Monsieur Panic paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 bettors' choice. After battling on top in the early going, Changement Detemps (Simon Delisle) and Always B Kris (Denis St Pierre) rounded out the top three.
Outside of Sunday's stakes action, another notable achievement during the 10-race card was Lena Ouellet Pichette's first career training win. The 38-year-old resident of Sainte-Jérôme, Que. watched her first winner loop 80-1 shot Destiny Road (Sylvain Lacaille) to take command early on in the afternoon's fourth race, a $2,500 conditioned pace. Prettydiva held off the upset-minded pocket-popper by three-quarters of a length in 2:01 with first-over challenger Amour (Simon Delisle) fading to third and gate breaker Dottie Hinson (Marie-Claude Auger), the 2-5 favourite, recovering for fourth. Prettydiva earned her first win this year in a dozen starts from the Ouellet Pichette stable for owner Isabelle Lepine. Maxime Dinelle drove the seven-year-old Sportswriter-Whycantiforgetyou mare, who paid $9.80 to win as the 7-2 third choice in the wagering.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(Standardbred Canada)