Trainer Jean-Francois Maguire teamed up with driver Samuel Fillion to win four Quebec-bred championships as Hippodrome 3R hosted the finals of the Coupe de l'Avenir for two-year-olds and Trophee des Eleveurs for three-year-olds, worth a combined $425,000 in purses, on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 13.
$55,000 Two-Year-Old Filly Pace
Favoured freshman pacing filly Smithnwesn Phoenix claimed the first championship title as she fought off challenger Denises Aura in the final quarter to win in 1:58.3 for driver Pascal Berube and trainer Dominic Gladu.
After firing to the front and setting opening fractions of :28.4 and :59.3, Smithnwesn Phoenix had company alongside her as Denises Aura (William Roy) regained her footing following an early miscue in the first turn and launched a first-over attack from third down the backstretch the final time. Briefly headed at the third quarter mark in 1:29, Smithnwesn Phoenix fought back as the fillies turned for home and won by a length over her game rival while Ruby Red (Marie-Claude Auger) finished behind them in third.
Never worse than second in her first five starts, Smithnwesn Phoenix has earned $42,500 for Quebec owners Les Ecuries Phoenix of Saint Liguori, Francois Dupuis of Laval and Serge Leonard of St-Charles-Borromee. All three of her wins have come in Coupe de l'Avenir stakes action.
The Betting Line-Giggle Hanover filly returned $2.80 as a popular winner.
$55,000 Two-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Pace
Driver Samuel Fillion worked out a perfect pocket trip for Colombo Ray and got the jump on entrymate Pinocchio Du Lac to prevail by a head in 1:56.4 in the two-year-old male pacing championship for trainer and co-owner Jean-Francois Maguire.
Colombo Ray tracked loosely in the pocket behind race leader The Dancers King (Marie-Claude Auger) through fractions of :27.4, :56.4 and 1:26.1 with Pinocchio Du Lac (Louis-Philippe Roy) on his back and Victorious Sun (Stephane Brosseau) parked ro their outside before breaking stride heading down the backstretch the final time. With a quarter-mile to go, Fillion gave Colombo Ray his cue from the deuce and forged ahead of The Dancers King as they raced into the stretch while Pinocchio Du Lac rallied to his outside in the drive to the wire only to come up a head short. The Dancers King settled for third as the top three finished well ahead of the rest of the field.
A first-time winner in the Aug. 16 leg of the series, Colombo Ray now has two victories to go along with runner-up finishes in his five other starts and $44,250 in earnings.
Maguire co-owns the Cattlewash-Drift Panic gelding with Quebec partners Jean Allaire of Montreal, Yves Raymond of Martinville and Jean Pierre Nadeau of Mascouche. Allaire is also part-owner of the championship's runner-up, Pinocchio Du Lac.
Colombo Ray paid $2.60 to win as part of the favoured entry.
$55,000 Two-Year-Old Trot
Driver Samuel Fillion and trainer Jean-Francois Maguire landed right back in the winner's circle after the next championship tilt as Castellano dominated the mixed field of five fillies and four male two-year-old trotters.
Castellano trotted into second for Fillion after a pair of early breakers cleared his path behind the quick-leaving filly Chapter For Speed (Louis-Philippe Roy). Castellano caught up to Chapter For Speed in a 30-second first quarter then looped to a clear lead at the 1:01.1 half while Chapter For Speed jumped it off behind him. Castellano maintained a wide margin on the rest of his rivals through three-quarters in 1:31 and kept on going to score in 2:01.1 by 10-3/4 lengths. The longest shot on the board at 78-1, Miss Fastiny (Jessica Turenne), edged past fellow filly foe DM Melodie (Francis Picard) in the race for place.
Also dominant winner in two preliminary legs by a combined 16-3/4 lengths, Castellano was the 4-5 favourite in the final and paid $2.20 to win.
A homebred for Sherbrooke, Que. owner Marc Kirouac, the Muscle Mass-Hawaiian Sweetie gelding is now five-for-seven in his career with $46,700 in earnings.
$65,000 Three-Year-Old Filly Trot
Three-year-old filly trotter Silver Pride gave driver Samuel Fillion and trainer Jean-Francois Maguire a third championship victory, leading all the way in a 1:58.4 mile.
Sent postward as the overwhelming favourite from the inside post, Silver Pride cruised through panels of :28.2, :59.2 and 1:29.2 on her way to an easy win. Trixie Charm (Louis-Philippe Roy) tracked in the pocket and tried to keep pace with Silver Pride around the final turn, but the popular winner accelerated off the rated middle half to a 2-1/4-length triumph while all other contenders faded from contention. SOS Unstoppable (Sylvain Grenier) rounded out the triactor 14 lengths behind.
Top three in her Quebec-bred divisional final last year, Silver Pride has won nine of her 15 sophomore starts including two preliminary stakes events. The Alarm Detector-Hallywood Hills filly has hit the board in 21 of her 22 starts, winning at a 50 per cent rate, and went over the $100,000 mark in earnings for owner/breeder Silver Stables of Venise-En-Quebec, Que.
The payout was just $2.10 for win bets on the popular filly.
$65,000 Three-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Trot
Unraced as a two-year-old, the Jacque Dupont-trained Kinnder Rolex emerged atop the sophomore male trotting division after posting a 2:03.3 front-end victory with Louis-Philippe Roy at the helm as a downpour downgraded the track conditions to slow for this championship event.
Roy looped Kinnder Rolex to the lead around reigning divisional champion and 1-2 favourite Magic Liam (Marie-Claude Auger) early on and cut fractions of :31.1, 1:03.4 and 1:33.1. With Magic Liam breaking stride heading into the backstretch the final time, the advancing Kinnder Top Class (Simon Delisle) took up the chase with pressure mounting as they raced in front of the grandstand, but Kinnder Rolex was able to fend off that foe, winning by a length. Magic Liam finished eight lengths behind in third.
Kinnder Rolex notched his first stakes victory and third career triumph in a dozen starts, earning the bulk of his $38,900 bankroll. The Muscle Mass-Her Name Is Lola gelding competes for the ownership group consisting of Ecurie Csl of Sorel-Tracy, Gestion C Levesque 2005 Inc. of St-Hyacinthe, Montreal's Marc Camirand and Michel Letarte of Boucherville.
Kinnder Rolex returned $5.20 to his backers at the betting windows as the 8-5 second choice.
$65,000 Three-Year-Old Filly Pace
With the rain clearing and fast track conditions returning for the next championship tilt, Louis-Philippe Roy doubled up in the stakes action with his homebred three-year-old pacing filly Esmeralda Du Lac fighting back the reigning divisional champ Cattlekiss in a 1:58.4 victory. The stakes win capped off a training triple on the 11-race program for 3R's leading conditioner Marc-Andre Simoneau.
Parked through a :28.2 opening quarter, Esmeralda Du Lac cleared the quick-leaving Taylor Desbi (Daniel Dube) past the first pole and got a breather to the half in :59 while favourite Cattlekiss (Marie-Claude Auger) went on the attack from an early gapped out four-hole. Cattlekiss applied heavy pressure to three-quarters in 1:29, matching strides with Esmeralda Du Lac and gaining a short lead as they turned into the homestretch, but Esmeralda Du Lac regained the upper hand and won by a length ahead of a four-filly calvary charge behind her. Taylor Desbi re-emerged inside to nab second-place over Victoria Ray (Pascal Berube) at the pylons, with Cattlekiss fourth and Kenogami Delight (Stephane Brosseau) fifth on the far outside.
Second choice Esmeralda Du Lac paid $5.10 to win as part of a 3-2 three-horse entry.
After finishing second behind Cattlekiss in last year's Coupe de l'Avenir filly final as one of two runner-up finishes in her three rookie races, Esmeralda Du Lac has won four of her 21 sophomore starts including an Aug. 2 preliminary division of the Trophee de Eleveurs.
Esmeralda Du Lac is the second Quebec champion out of the Art Major mare Sheissuchadream, who also produced 2022 Coupe de l'Avenir winner Pocohontas Du Lac (sired by Betterthancheddar).
The Cattlewash filly, whose lifetime earnings now sit just shy of $100,000, is owned by Louis-Philippe Roy Racing of Campbellville, Ont., Jean Allaire of Montreal, Que., Michel Letarte of Boucherville, Que., and Groupe Esmeralda Du Lac of Campbellville, Ont. The same connections watched her freshman All Bets Off brother Pinocchio Du Lac finish second by a head to Colombo Ray in the day's earlier final of the Coupe de l'Avenir.
$65,000 Three-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Pace
Three-year-old pacing gelding Panic Ray followed his half brother Colombo Ray in winning a championship title, adding another trophy to the collection for driver Samuel Fillion and trainer Jean-Francois Maguire.
Panic Ray landed in fourth at the start as reigning divisional champion Bernard (William Roy) chased after Beach Keepers (Louis-Philippe Roy) in a :27.3 opening sprint. Bernard cleared to command at the quarter pole and led the field through middle splits of :57.2 and 1:26.4 while undefeated Golddiamond (Stephane Brosseau) progressed parked-from-the-start on the outside with Wicked Buddy Buck (Pascal Berube) following the cover and Panic Ray angling out third-over after the first lap. Disaster struck for Golddiamond as he reached the leader down the backstretch the final time, breaking stride and causing interference to the outside tier. Panic Ray managed to get around the commotion and took on the front-striding Bernard with Beach Keepers pocket-popping in between as they turned for home. Closing three-wide, Panic Ray out-paced his inside rivals to the wire, prevailing in 1:57.4 by a quarter of a length over Beach Keepers, with Bernard giving way to finish third.
Panic Ray returned $16.60 for the mild 7-1 upset.
The Dancin Lou gelding out of the Shadow Play mare Drift Panic was winless in 10 starts a rookie, but has put together a sophomore record reading 2-4-4 in 17 races to boost his career bankroll to $75,242 for owner Yves Raymond of Martinville, Que.
Panic Ray's victory capped off a perfect four-for-four championship day for the Maguire stable.
Butterfly Catcher Repeats In Mares Preferred On Undercard
Facing 3R's Preferred distaffers for the second time in her career, trainer Mathieu Desrochers' five-year-old pacing mare Butterfly Catcher was a repeat winner in the $7,000 handicap pace on Sunday's undercard with Pascal Berube in the driver's seat again. Leaving from the inside post, the favoured Sunshine Beach-Catch A Dragon mare led wire-to-wire, winning in 1:57.3 over pocket-sitter JK American Beauty (Louis-Philippe Roy) and first-over pursuer Kiss Me Bad (Daniel Mondou).
To view Sunday's complete harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Hippodrome 3R.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Colombo Ray winning on Sept. 13)