His mounts were favoured in each dash, and that proved to be a good omen for driver Stephane Gendron, as he went on to sweep both of the Invitational events during Hippodrome 3R’s live program of racing for Sunday (October 29).
The first of Gendron’s Invitational wins came during Race 7, the $5,000 silver Invitational pace, as he steered the Yves Tessier-trained Ufdragons Rocket ($3.40) to a wire-to-wire win in 1:59.2. The eight-year-old Dragon Again gelding started from Post 8 over a ‘sloppy’ track that was rated five seconds slow. Ufdragons Rocket crossed right over, cut all of the fractions (:29, 1:00, 1:30.3) and powered home to a seven-length win. Pantheon Seelster (driven by Stephane Brosseau) fininshed second and Beach Runner AM (Mario Charron) finished third. Ufdragons Rocket is owned by Francois Morin (of Beauceville, QC).
Gendron’s next Invitation score came in the very next contest (Race 8), which was the $8,000 gold Invitational trot. After having started from Post 6, Caroluzzo ($4.90) came on in the back half of the mile to record a narrow head victory in 2:01.3 for trainer Daniel Martin. Gendron and the eight-year-old son of Musclesextrodinair sat second through the opening fractions (:28.4, :59.2) before making their move. The duo was overland when they clicked off three quarters in 1:30.1. They fought hard through the slop on the way home and earned the victory. The win was No. 7 from 21 seasonal tries for Carlouzzo, who is owned by Michael Cote Gagnon (Terrebonne, QC).
Gendron also recorded wins with DGs Machbeach ($16.70) and Hard Rock ($9.70).
Track Notes: Lucky Promesses extended her lead as the winningest horse at H3R this season, as she won Race 6 in 2:04.3. With just two race programs left for the 2017 race season, Stephane Brosseau holds a diminishing lead over the red hot Stephane Gendron, 51 to 44, for the top driver honours, while Francis Richard’s 24 wins from his stable puts him in strong contention to capturing the training title. Yves Tessier’s stable currently sits at 18. Jean Tourney’s outfit has recorded 16 wins, and both Michel Allard and Maxime Velaye have recorded 15 victories.
Live racing will resume at H3R next Sunday. First-race post time will be at 12:30 p.m. For more information, visit quebecjockeyclub.com.
(With files from the Quebec Jockey Club)