All it takes these days to put a smile on harness racing trainer Jean Tourigny’s face is ask him about his three-year-old pacing filly HP Sissy.
Last week at Hippodrome 3R, HP Sissy and driver Mario Baillargeon etched that smile on Tourigny’s into stone as he watched them crush a field of six rivals in the opening round of the Breeders Cup Series with an eight and one-half length romp.
The series enters the second round this Sunday with two divisions for both fillies and colts. There are four preliminary rounds with the top eight point earners returning Sunday, September 4 for their respective $65,000 finals.
“She is the best filly for this series and in my barn,” Tourigny said. “And last week she raced very good for a half mile track.”
Good is an understatement. HP Sissy was sensational.
The daughter of Up The Credit, who last year tied the track record at 3R for two-year-old fillies with a 1:57.3 record, has come back to 3R a year older and faster. She not only left from Post 6 and took command and never looked back, but stopped the teletimer in 1:56.1 for her second win this season.
HP Sissy was bred and is co-owned by Claude Hamel of Ayer’s Cliff, QC with Michel Damphousse of Louiseville, QC.
“I don’t go for records,” Tourigny said. “I think it is important that my filly is feeling good and fresh for this series.”
This Sunday, HP Sissy will start from Post 4 and should be the overwhelming favourite in her division.
“She came out of last week’s race feeling good and healthy,” Tourigny said,” so I expect a good performance from her this week.”
Other contenders in the field include Drift Panic (Post 3) and Imagine Speed (Post 1).
The second filly division (Race 4) is headed by last year’s series champion, Miss Babe Delight, who will start from Post 2 for driver Pascal Berube.
The daughter of Bettors Delight wired the field last week in 1:58.1 for her first win in six starts this year for trainer Dany Fontaine. She will be taking on Wild River Swan (Post 5), Star Speed (Post 3) and Clodam Bayama (Post 7).
The pacing colts will get underway in Race 7 where HP Patriote will be saddled with the difficult task of starting from the far outside in Post 8 for driver Louis-Philippe Roy.
The son of Vintage Master is still the morning line favourite despite the bad post. His bad starting spot did not hamper his efforts last week when he started from Post 6. He raced three-wide in that tilt, collared the race leader and then pulled away for a five and one-half length score in 1:56.
Other contenders in the field include D Gs Ninja (Post 3), Shanghai Warrior (Post 1) and Chummy Park (Post 6).
The final division, also for colts, is Race 8. Mohawk Raceway invader, Expert Bayama, is the morning line favourite. He will start from Post 8 for trainer/driver Yves Filion.
In his second start back he scorched Mohawk’s oval with a lifetime mark of 1:51.1 for his third win this year. The gelded son of Up The Credit is owned and bred by Bayama Farms.
Xpert Bayama will have his work cut out for him. He will face some formidable foes in series-opening–week-winner Dance With Joe (Post 7), Mr Mach Jimmy (Post 6) and EY Cowboy (Post 2).
Track Notes: First-race post time Sunday is 1:30 p.m.
Coming up Tuesday evening at 3R is the Quebec/Eastern Ontario Regional Driving Championship. Eight top regional drivers will compete with the two top point earners heading to the finals to see who will represent Canada in next year’s World Driving Championships, which is being hosted in Canada. The eight drivers competing in six races are Jacques Beaudoin, Pascal Berube, Gord Brown, Guy Gagnon, Sylvain Lacaille, Gaetan Lamy, Brett MacDonald and Louis-Phillipe Roy.
To view the harness racing entries for Sunday at 3R, click the following link: Sunday Entries – Hippodrome 3R.
(QJC)