With a bold three-wide move in the backstretch, Windsun Cheyenne and driver Pascal Berube were able to capture the Preferred-Handicap Pace for the second straight week at the Hippodrome 3R.
The seventh race feature saw race favourite Maracasso and driver Carol Voyer go three-wide on the first turn to take command of the race with D J Power (Samuel Fillion) sitting the pocket-seat and Always A Diamond (Steeven Genois) stuck first-over. They went by the opening quarter mile in :27.1.
By the half mile marker in :55.4, Voyer had Maracasso in command of the race and was leading by three lengths until the backstretch. That was when Berube swung out three-wide with Windsun Cheyenne and started to gait ground on Maracasso past the three-quarters in 1:25.2.
At the top of the stretch Maracasso began to fade as D J Power shot up the inside, but they could not catch Windsun Cheyenne as he went on to win by one and one-half lengths in 1:56.2. Jeffs Journey (Stephane Gendron) closed well to be second with D J Power third.
The oldest competitor in the field at age ten, Windsun Cheyenne is sired by Cams Card Shark and is trained and owned by Gina Bragagnolo of Lavaltrie. It was his second straight win and third of the season for Windsun Cheyenne, who paid $8.70 to win.
Scoring a driving triple on the day, Pascal Berube moved into sole position of first place among the driver standings with 15 wins. Stephane Gendron is in second place with 13 wins.
Trainers Michel Allard and Charles Gaudreault had one win each Friday and now are tied with Maxime Velaye for the early lead in the trainer standings with five wins each. Defending champion Francis Richard and Pierre Leclerc each have four wins.
The Hippodrome 3R has live racing all weekend long. On Saturday is the second round of the Quebec Regional Fair Circuit with an eight-race program. Then on Sunday is another eight-race card. Post time both days is 1:00 p.m.
For a free race program for each day, visit www.hippodrome3r.ca.
(Quebec Jockey Club)
To view results for Friday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Friday Results – Hippodrome 3R.