Unbeaten two-year-old pacing colt, Whitecookie, posted his fifth straight win with another impressive victory in a second-round division of the Future Stars Series at the Hippodrome 3R Thursday evening.
Owned, trained and driven to victory by Marie Claude Auger of Trois-Rivieres, the son of Windfall Blue Chip never had an anxious moment in the one-mile pacing race.
Leaving from post one in the fourth race, Auger sent Whitecookie right to the front with HP Beach Dragon (Stephane Brosseau) leaving sharply from post eight and grabbing the two-hole spot behind Whitecookie.
They raced that way the rest of the mile with HP Beach Dragon looking to mount a challenge on the final turn. That only urged Whitecookie on, who won with ease by two and three-quarter lengths in 1:58.2, the last quarter mile on the half mile track in :28.4. HP Beach Dragon was second with Eclat De Rire (Stephane Gendron) third.
The time of the race tied the lifetime mark for Whitecookie, who paid $3.00 to win.
There are three preliminary rounds for the Future Stars Series with the finals for their respective divisions on Sunday, September 8 at H3R with a purse of $55,000 in each final for the two-year-olds.
In the ninth race second colt division, the 1-9 favourite, My Bettors Del, made it two straight wins in the series, wiring the field for driver Stephane Brosseau by two lengths in 1:59.4.
Retour Au Jeu and driver Stephane Gendron was second with Jeu De Puissance (Simon Delisle) third.
The son of Bettors Delight is trained by Jacques Dupont for owners Yves Sarrazin of La Presentation and Jam Audet Inc of Portneauf. He paid just $2.10 to win.
The sixth race was the lone filly division in the Future Stars and as expected by the toteboard, Lotus Sena was the race favourite and she raced like one.
Driven by H3R’s leading driver, Stephane Gendron, Lotus Sena led every step of the way out of the starting gate. She went on to pull away from the field after the three-quarters and winning in a romp by six and one-half open lengths in 2:02.1. SOS Cupcake (Daniel Laflamme) was second with Acaena De Chakbika (Stephane Brosseau) third.
It was a lifetime mark for the daughter of Windfall Blue Chip and her third straight win in just four lifetime starts. She is trained, owned and was bred by Serge Nadeau of Scott and paid $3.20 to win as the wagering favourite.
After the seventh race on the program, the second annual Horse Power Challenge took place on the racetrack between NASCAR drivers Andrew Ranger and LP Dumoulin in an exhibition event.
Last year Ranger won the inaugural race in double-seater jogging carts. This year Ranger competed with coach Jocelyn Gendron, driving Cooking The Speed and Dumoulin was with his coach from last year, Stephane Brosseau with Missionoftheheart.
It was Ranger and Gendron that went to the early lead and a dogfight ensued as Dumoulin and Brosseau came right away on the outside, but could not clear to the lead.
The race was for three-quarters of a mile, going the first quarter in :32.2, the half mile in 1:03.4 and that was when Missionoftheheart had enough parked on the outside and settled back into second place as Ranger and Gendron won by three lengths in 1:38.3.
Stephane Brosseau led all drivers with three winners on the program. Marie Claude Auger had a driving and training double. With one win Thursday, Francis Richard took the lead in the H3R Trainer Standings 16 to 15 over Michel Allard.
Live racing takes a week off due to the auto Grand Prix in Trois-Rivieres and resumes next Friday, August 16 for the Prix D’Ete weekend at H3R. Friday evening’s card features the second round of the Future Stars Series for two-year-old trotters and pacers.
Then on Sunday, August 18 it is the 6th renewal of the $200,000 Prix D’Ete, featuring many of the top four-year-old pacers in North America. Also, on the card will be the third round of the Breeders Cup Series for three-year-old pacers.
(Quebec Jockey Club)
To view results for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Results – Hippodrome 3R.