Two world-class harness racing drivers, Louis-Philippe Roy and Daniel Dube, are returning to their home province of Quebec for Super Sunday, Sept. 8, to compete in the $500,000 Quebec championships at Hippodrome 3R.
The 12-race card that begins at 12 noon features eight divisional championships for Quebec-bred pacers and trotters. The four finals of the Breeders Trophy Series for three-year-olds will each have a purse of $65,000 while the four finals of the Future Stars Series for two-year-olds will each offer purses of $55,000.
The card also includes four $6,500 Invitational races -- one for three-year-old Quebec-bred pacers, one for the trotters, one for the pacing mares and one for the pacing horses.
It will be the richest day of horse racing in all of Quebec.
Louis-Philippe Roy, a three-time O’Brien Award winner, has drives in 10 of the 12 races. In three of those races, all finals, he will be driving horses that he has bred and owns. They are two-year-old pacing filly Coeuratout De Lac, three-year-old pacing filly Ronda Du Lac and three-year-old pacing gelding Olaf Du Lac.
What does Roy look forward to most in returning to Quebec for the finals?
“Seeing people happy after all the work they put into their horses and enjoying success in the finals,” said Roy, one of the top drivers in Ontario at Woodbine Mohawk Park. “A lot of people in Quebec are owners and breeders, and sometimes even trainers as well of their horses, so it’s what they’ve been aiming for for years!”
Daniel Dube, born and raised in Trois-Rivieres, Que., has been a leading driver wherever he has competed and is closing in on his 10,000th career win. The New Jersey-based reinsman has more than $139 million in purse earnings. Dube was the driver of This Is The Plan in the fastest mile ever recorded at 3R, 1:49.1, set in the 2019 Prix d’Ete. Dube has drives in seven of the 12 races -- four of them in the finals.
Also, returning home to Quebec from the United States for Super Sunday is driver Simon Allard, who has four drives on the program (two in the finals), all for his father, trainer/owner/ breeder Michel Allard.
Standouts in the finals include the only horse Sunday who has a chance to sweep all three preliminary legs and the final in Boomboom Tonight (pictured above), who drew post two in the 10th race three-year-old colt pace. The Sportswriter-Rapid Tonight gelding has won four of his last five starts for driver Pascal Berube and owner/trainer/breeder Elisabeth Pothier.
The Super Sunday weekend kicks off on Friday, Sept. 6 with a 10-race card starting at 4 p.m.
To view Sunday's harness racing entries, click the following links: Sunday Entries - Hippodrome 3R // Sunday Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).
(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)