The Circuit régional des courses de chevaux du Québec concludes its 2016 season this Saturday in Ormstown, Que.
To end the year with a bang, the card features Le Prix du Suroît Pace with a $2,000 purse on the line.
One that has been established is the favourite Bali, owned by Denise Auger of Trois-Rivières. This five-year-old pacer has a 4-2-0 in seven starts on the Circuit régional including track record efforts at St-Aimé-des-Lacs and Bedford.
Bali will have to contend with Michel Allard's Trys Little Prince, the holder of the track record at Hippodrome Ormstown.
Another horse worth mentioning is Hockey Bum. This valiant steed will be driven by veteran Gaétan Lamy. At Ormstown, Hockey Bum has a solid record of two wins and two seconds in four outings.
Last year, the first edition of Prix du Suroît was won by Edmund Hanover. This horse, owned by Daniel Dulude of Ste-Martine, will return this year but in another class.
Legendary announcer Jean Desautels who will handle the calls for nine races. Now retired since the closure of Hippodrome de Montreal (Blue-Bonnets) in 2008, Desautels delighted the fans with his race calls in Ormstown for the past two seasons.
Desautels' career spans 30 years and has treated fans with his unique bilingual calls for close to 58,000 races. The great majority of these races were at Blue-Bonnets with occasional appearances at other tracks in Quebec, the Maritimes and even Florida.
First race post time is 1:00 p.m. with pari-mutuel wagering offered. To view the entries, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Ormstown.
(with files from CRCCQ)