This Sunday (Sept. 12) Hippodrome 3R hosts the finals of both the Breeders Trophy Series (for three-year-olds) and Future Stars Series (for two-year-olds). With total purses more than $450,000, it is the richest day of harness racing in all of Quebec.
Post time for the Quebec Championship Finals is 12:10 p.m. There are also two $10,000 Invitations, in Race 1 for the trotters and Race 10 for the pacers.
Here is a synopsis of the eight finals listed in race order.
Race 3 — $50,000 Two-Year-Old Filly Trot Final
HP Felicity (Post 7) has just two starts in the series, winning both of them. The Muscle Mass daughter has earned nearly $50,000 this year for trainer Jean Tourigny and owner-breeders Claude Hamel & Michel Damphousse. She will be driven by Sylvain Filion.
Her main rivals will be three-time winner Stella Alpha (Post 3) for driver Pascal Berube and Cleveland Moneyka (Post 1) for driver Stephane Brosseau.
Race 4 — $50,000 Two-Year-Old Filly Pace Final
Sunjet Ray (Post 5) is the early favourite for driver Louis-Philippe Roy. The Sunshine Beach filly was placed first in the series final leg, sporting a record of 2:00.3 with Roy in the sulky for trainer Francis Richard. She is co-owned by Richard with Guillaume Desrochers, Dr. John Bradbury and Charles Marquis.
Their main competition will come from HP Mary Sunshine (Post 1) for driver Pascal Berube and D Gs Shadow (Post 2) with driver Jonathan Lachance.
Race 5 — $60,000 Three-Year-Old Colt Trot Final
The strong entry of Emotions Riches (Post 2) and Ciel Bleu (Post 1) will be tested once again. Emotions Riches (Stephane Gendron) is coming off a lifetime best 1:59.2 triumph in the series for trainer Maxime Velaye and the gelded son of Wheeling N Dealin is seeking his third straight win for the Provoquante Stable that bred and owns both colts.
Hall Win (Post 5) was the early season sensation for the Kevin Maguire Stable, sporting five wins in nine starts already this year and will have Louis-Philippe Roy in the sulky for the first time. Other contenders include Aoki (Post 6) for driver Jocelyn Gendron and Deal With Lucus (Post 3) with driver Stephane Brosseau.
Race 6 — $50,000 Two-Year-Old Colt Trot Final
Royalty Beer (Post 5, pictured below) and Cleveland Massino (Post 2) are the overwhelming entry favourites. Royalty Beer, a gelded son of Royalty For Life, is a perfect three-for-three in the series and seeks to make a clean sweep for the Jean Francois Maguire Stable. He will be driven by Louis-Philippe Roy while Cleveland Massino will be driven by Samuel Fillion.
The main competition comes from a pair of colts from the Daniel Martin stable: Kenogami Rebel (Post 4) for driver Stephane Brosseau and Sammy Justice (Post 1) for driver Pascal Berube.
Race 7 — $50,000 Two-Year-Old Colt Pace Final
This is a classic match-up between Kaporal (Post 8) for driver Stephane Gendron against HP Momentum (Post 6) for driver Sylvain Filion. Kaporal, a gelded son of Sunshine Beach, has won his last two starts — both in the series — the fastest a 1:58.3 lifetime mark where he just beat HP Momentum. He is trained by Francis Richard for the Richard Stable, Ferme Auclairs and Jean-Christophe Auclair.
Other contenders include the entry of Y S Mathis Bro (Post 4) for driver Jonathan Lachance and Y S Bettors Legacy (Post 7) with driver Guy Gagnon. Persistant Boy (Post 1) and Samuel Fillion also look to factor.
Race 8 — $60,000 Three-Year-Old Filly Trot Final
X O X O (Post 5, pictured below) has been a perfect three-for-three in the series for owner, breeder and driver Jerome Lombart. This daughter of Angus Hall sports seven wins this year, tying her with Platine Alpha as the two winningest horses at 3R this season. She took her record in the series with a 2:00 triumph two starts back.
Mag N Lady (Post 3) was last year’s champion and holds the track record for two-year-old trotting fillies. She is winless in four starts this year but driver Samuel Fillion will be looking to break that winless skid on Sunday. Elegance Duharas (Post 1) is another contender, coming off a lifetime best 2:00.3 qualifying win at Mohawk and will be driven by Louis-Philippe Roy.
Race 9 — $60,000 Three-Year-Old Filly Pace Final
This will be a tough race as the morning line favourite, Celia Bayama starts from the far outside Post 8 for driver Sylvain Filion. The Bettors Delight filly has the speed to overcome the outside position, winning last start in 1:57.2. Celia Bayama was the Quebec-Bred champion at age two last year.
Got Sexy Scars goes from post four for driver Louis-Philippe Roy and ships back to 3R off back-to-back wins in 1:53.2 in Ontario. Other contenders include CL Sportsextreme (Post 5) for Jonathan Lachance and Platine Alpha (Post 3) with Pascal Berube in the bike.
Race 11 — $60,000 Three-Year-Old Colt Pace Final
This race belongs to Cadillac Bayama (Post 5) who is seeking to make the series a clean sweep after winning all three preliminary rounds with ease. The colt by Sunshine Beach gets Sylvain Filion in the sulky, and is part of an entry with Colonel Bayama (Post 4), who has been second best to Cadillac Bayama.
The Light Speed (Post 6) ships back to 3R for trainer-driver Guy Gagnon and sports an impressive eight wins this year, the fastest a 1:52.1 score. The 2020 two-year-old Quebec Champion YS Do It Right (Post 1) and Chantee (Post 3) are also contenders.
Of the 12 races on Sunday there are eight former Quebec-Bred Champions returning. The first race Invitational Trot has four-time winner Capteur De Reve along with two-time winner Precieuse CC and Babidibou. The eighth race has Mag N Lady, the ninth race has Celia Bayama, the 10th race Invitational Pace has DGs De Vito and Eclat De Rire and the 11th race has YS Do It Right.
Post time on Sunday is 12:10 pm. A free race program is available at hippodrome3r.ca. To view the entries for Sunday's stakes-packed card of harness racing, click one of the following links: Entries || Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)
(Quebec Jockey Club)