Two and three-year-old pacing colts and fillies headline six stakes races at the Hippodrome 3R this Sunday afternoon (July 24).
The races make up the fourth (and thus final) preliminary round of the Breeders Cup Series for three-year-olds and the first round of the Future Stars Series for two-year-olds as they vie for one of eight spots in the $65,000 finals on Sunday, September 4.
The pacing colts get underway in Race 3, which is the first of two divisions. Sports Authority heads the field after he blew away the competition last week, where he cut loose for trainer Maxime Velaye and driver Mario Charron and led from the start to finish in a six and one-half-length romp in 1:55.3.
It was not just a lifetime mark for the son of Sportswriter, but also his fifth win in eight starts this year. He will start from Post 4. His main competition will come from last year’s champion, Mr Mach Jimmy (Post 1) and Sagawi (Post 3).
The second colt division is Race 11, where HP Patriote will look to make a clean sweep of the preliminary rounds and will be looking for his fourth straight win.
The son of Vintage Master was also at his best last week at 3R for driver Louis-Philippe Roy, as he romped by six lengths in a lifetime best 1:55.2. Trained by Gerard Demers, HP Patriote has an impressive seven wins in eight starts this year.
He will face strong competition from YS Artistic Fella (Post 1), D Gs Ninja (Post 3) and Dance With Joe (Post 4).
The three-year-old pacing fillies will do battle in Race 9 with a full field of ten starters.
HP Pandora is the morning line favourite, but has drawn Post 9 and must start from the second tier behind Clodam Bayama (Post 1), who last week could not stay on stride as the betting favourite and finished last.
HP Pandora is coming off a lifetime best performance for trainer Daniel Martin and will be driven once again by Louis-Philippe Roy. Last week the daughter of Mach Three crushed the field with a six and one-quarter-length victory in 1:56.3, which was her second win this year.
Also in the field is last week’s other divisional winner, Wild River Swan, who will start from Post 5, Drift Panic (Post 8) and Skyfall Sena (Post 4).
There are three divisions of the opening round of the Future Stars Series for two-year-old pacers.
A bulky field of ten fillies will be featured in Race 6 where two recent qualifying race winners, HP Celina Shadow (Post 6) will take on Kinnderuntouchable (Post 5).
Both fillies won at 3R. HP Celina Shadow was the faster of the two in 2:03.2 and will be driven by Louis-Phillipe Roy, as Kinnderuntouchable won in 2:03.3 for driver Justin Filion.
The other two divisions are non-wagering races for colts. The first will be held at 1:15 p.m. and is a good match-up between Four Seven One (Post 2), Wildriverbumblebee (Post 5) and C L Sportaction (Post 3).
The second non-wagering race will be featured between the fifth and sixth races with the spotlight on Histoire Enchantee from Post 2 for driver Mario Charron. The son of Shanghai Phil recently qualified at Rideau Carlton Raceway for trainer Maxime Velaye with an impressive 2:02.2 triumph and is set to face other winners, Cyclone Joe (Post 5) and Majo Lou Beka (Post 4).
First-race post time on Sunday will be 1:30 p.m. for the wagering races.
To view the harness racing entries for Sunday at 3R, click the following link: Sunday Entries – Hippodrome 3R.
(QJC)