Sunday’s ninth race Silver Invitational Pace at Hippodrome 3R looks to be a wide-open affair with nine starters including four horses who have won this class during the season.
The lone return winner in the field is Mister Big Top from post five for trainer Yves Tessier and driver Stephen Gendron.
Tessier, it should be noted, is currently the third leading percentage trainer in all of Canada this season. His UTR (universal training rating) is a very impressive .422 between Hippodrome 3R and Rideau Carleton in 2017. He is also the third leading trainer this year at H3R (15 wins) and 4th in the standing at Rideau Carleton (39 wins).
Owned by Francois Morin of Beaucevile, Mister Big Top sports seven wins this year, his fastest a 1:54.3 lifetime mark at Rideau Carleton. Most recently he tuned up for Sunday’s race with an easy 2:00.1 qualifying win at 3R. But prior to that, on the Quebec Regional Fair Circuit at Bedford, Mister Big Top scored a decisive triumph in a 1.5 mile extra distance race with a 2:58 victory. Back on July 30, Mister Big Top and Gendron won the two-mile race at H3R in 4:06.1.
The race favourite is Bali, despite having to start from the far outside in post eight for driver Stephane Brosseau. Brosseau is the leading driver this season with 45 wins, giving him a commanding lead over Stephane Gendron in second place with 32 wins.
In his last two starts, however, Bali has had his head handed to him with two sixth place finishes at Rideau. But prior to that he had two straight wins and also has seven wins on the year, the fastest a lifetime best 1:53.1 triumph right at 3R.
The horse that sports the most second place finishes this year is Solid Performance in post four. This eight-year-old gelded son of Armbro Deuce has 11 second place finishes and four wins. He will be driven for the first time by David Pilon. Just two starts back, Solid Performance won at 3R in 1:54.2.
3R’s leading trainer, Francis Richard with 22 wins, sends out Matts Phil from post two with Pierre-Luc Roy handing the driving. Matts Phil sports six wins and three second place finishes this season and in his last seven starts has been either first or second.
Highpoint Chip, trained and driven by Pascal Berube, starts from post seven and has won three of his last four starts, all at 3R, the fastest a 1:54.3 victory.
Rounding out the competitive field are Pantheon Seelster (post one), Lyons Josephjnr (post three), Arazi (post six) and My Buddy Mason (post nine).
First race post time is 12:30 pm. For entries, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Hippodrome 3R
(with files from the Quebec Jockey Club)