It was close to being 'Denis St. Pierre Night' on Tuesday at the Hippodrome 3R as the track’s hottest harness racing driver continued to add to his impressive season, steering in four winners on the ten-race program, including the feature pace with City Loft.
Since the meet opened back in May, Denis St. Pierre just keeps improving. He went into Tuesday’s program with a universal driving rating (UDR) or “batting” average of .450 and the driving triple will only add to his statistics.
Denis St. Pierre started out the program with his first win in the second race pace, coming from dead last in ninth place with Boogie Panic and with a bold three-wide move in the backstretch moved from ninth to fifth place by the three-quarters.
And he did not stop from there, flying three-wide with Boogie Panic to grab the lead by the head of the stretch by two and one-half lengths. From there they were home free and went on to romp by five and one-quarter lengths in 1:59.3. And to top it off, they went off at nearly 8-1 and paid $17.50 to win.
Then in the very next race for two-year-olds, it was Denis St Pierre again, this time with the race favourite, Sugarsam ($3.90). They started from the outside in post eight and left out from behind the gate to get away in third place, then quarter move to the lead, drawing off by the top of the stretch and breezing to a one and three-quarter length victory in 2:00.4.
In the sixth race feature, Denis St Pierre was aboard City Loft and they were not about to let anyone get near them. From the start they got to the front and never looked back. Led every step of the way and pulled away from the field by the three-quarters and won in a romp by seven and three-quarter lengths. Not even Shanghai Ben could look him in the eye coming first over.
The time of race was a lifetime mark for City Loft of 1:57.1. The pocket sitting A R Éclair (Jean Lord) was second with Destino (Marie Claude Auger) third.
It was the third straight win for City Loft, a three-year-old gelded son of Shadow Play, who is trained by Frances Richard. He paid $2.50 to win.
To cap off the evening in the ninth race, Denis St Pierre sent Sophies Duke ($2.80) to the lead after the opening quarter mile and never looked back, also winning in a romp by five and one-quarter lengths in 1:56.4.
Live racing resumes Sunday afternoon at the Hippodrome 3R with post time at 1:00 p.m.
(Quebec Jockey Club)
To view results for Tuesday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Tuesday Results – Hippodrome 3R.