Coeuratout Du Lac delivered a blowout victory in the second round of the Future Stars Series at Hippodrome 3R as the highlight of a training grand slam for David Pilon on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 4.
The second round of the Future Stars Series was comprised of four $7,500 divisions, with two for the fillies and two for the colts and geldings.
Coeuratout Du Lac was the overwhelming 1-9 race favourite in the first filly division and the Control The Moment-Signet miss was unstoppable, leading from start to finish in an 8-3/4-length romp in 2:04 for driver Pierre-Luc Roy. The race fractions were :30.3, 1:03.3 and 1:34.1 with a :29.4 final frame. Mikamaksomespeed (Denis St. Pierre) was second with Wild River Raccoon (Stephane Brosseau) recovering from a break at the start of the race to finish third.
The Pilon trainee earned her second win in five starts. A homebred for Pierre-Luc Roy and his brother Louis-Philippe Roy along with partner Maude Larouche, Coeuratout Du Lac is also co-owned by Michel Letarte and Jean Allaire. She paid just $2.10 across the board.
Coeuratout Du Lac was a runner-up in the opening round to the undefeated Justine Ray, who was going for her fourth straight win in Sunday's second filly division, but as fate would have it, she made a costly break at the start of the race.
With Justine Ray, the huge 1-9 wagering favourite, out of the race, it became a wide-open affair with Silver Majesty scoring a maiden-breaking victory in rein to Denis St. Pierre for trainer Jean-Francois Maguire.
The first filly on the lead was 14-1 shot HP Top Modele (Jocelyn Gendron), who took the field to the quarter in a speedy :28.4 with 10-1 shot Silver Majesty out-duelling Myvaliam (William Roy) for the two-hole trip after the half-mile in :59.4. Regrouping from going off stride, Justine Ray (Pascal Berube) caught up with the field by the half-mile, then took a tuck into fourth place by the backstretch as HP Top Modele led to the three-quarters in 1:29.4. As they went around the final turn, St. Pierre vacated out of the pocket with Silver Majesty to go after HP Top Modele. Silver Majesty collared HP Top Modele in mid-stretch and then pulled away to win by two lengths in 2:00.2, the fastest division of the series leg. HP Top Modele was second with Justine Ray finishing back in third.
Silver Majesty won her fourth career start, paying $22.80 for the upset. The All Bets Off-Acaena De Chakrika filly is owned by Silver Stables and Marie Michelle Gaboury.
In the first division for the colts and geldings, the career-debuting HP Bellissimo and driver Robert Shepherd went first-over before the half-mile, blew by pacesetter Changement Detemps (Stephane Brosseau) and then went on to win with ease by 2-3/4 lengths in 2:01. Chagement Detemps was second with race favourite Koz Im Doc (Marie-Claude Auger) finishing third.
Trained by Chantal Mitchell, the Sportswriter gelding out of HP Bellamy is a Claude Hamel homebred co-owned by Jean Denis Pelletier. He paid $8.20 to win as the 3-1 third choice.
In the second division, 2-5 favourite The Magic Moment and driver Jonathan Lachance sped to the early lead and led the entire mile, winning with ease by 2-1/2 lengths in 2:02.2. The pocket-sitting Winchester Phoenix (Stephane Brosseau) tried to rush up on the race leader around the final turn to no avail and held for second place with Deal Speed (William Roy) third.
Trained by Francis Guillemette and bred and owned by Gestion A&a Belanger Inc., the Control The Moment-Wind River Cat colt earned his first career victory in just his second attempt. He paid $2.80 to win.
In addition their stakes wins, Pilon and Shepherd teamed for wins with On Cruise Control ($4.90), Pick A Genre ($3.60) and G A Speed Expert during the 13-race program.
3R will be taking a week off of live harness racing due to the Grand Prix auto race in the town of Trois-Rivieres, Que. Racing will resume on Friday, Aug. 16. On Sunday, Aug. 18, 3R will feature the return of its premier event, the $200,000 Prix d’Ete for four-year-old pacers. Eligible horses include standouts Its My Show, Voukefalas, El Rey, Act Fast, Huntinthelastdolar and local favourite, Light The Torch.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)