The Hippodrome 3R will have a special Sunday night race program this weekend in honour of Civic Holiday on Monday. The 7 p.m. first post harness racing card will be highlighted by the final preliminary round of the $400,000 Quebec-Bred Series for three-year-old trotters and pacers.
After Sunday’s fourth round of eliminations, the top eight point earners will return next month on September 7 for the $65,000 finals in each of the four divisions for colts and fillies.
This Sunday there is just one division in each category and the action gets underway in the very first race for filly trotters.
Returning after a week’s rest is Viva Bayama for trainer/driver Yves Filion. The daughter of Muscle Mass won the first two legs of the series and will start from post three. She was bred and is owned by the Filion’s Bayama Farms of Quebec.
Other contenders looking to secure a spot in the final are Lucyll Bro, who won last week’s third round leading from start to finish by four open lengths for driver Stephane Gendron, Bambie Benjo and Éclair Lavec.
The fastest of the four divisions will come in the eighth race for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings. Hall Bro headlines the field from the rail. Hall Bro is the only horse in the entire series that has a chance to make a clean sweep in the series. The gelded son of Blissfull Hall has won all three of his preliminary rounds, two of them by a narrow head and neck over rival Jefferson Tare.
Jefferson Tare will have it tough in this fourth round as he drew post 10, which makes him start in the second tier for driver Pascal Berube. Another major contender is Atomic Million AM and driver Sylvain Lacaille in post five. They have two wins in the series, including the fastest mile in the series so far, a 1:53.1 triumph that was just two-fifths of a second off of the track record for sophomore pacers.
In the fifth race filly pace division, Champagne Shower heads the field from post four for driver Denis St Pierre. This daughter of Santana Blue Chip has been razor sharp for trainer Helene Fillion winning her last three starts and figures to again lead from start to finish. She goes against prior series leg winners My American Tallia (post eight),C L Infinite (post five) and the consistent Night Fall (post seven), who has finished second in five of her last seven starts.
The three-year-old trotting colts and geldings will be featured in the seventh race with a full field of 10 starters. Four of the starters have won at least one leg of the series so far.
Maximuscle returns after being a sick scratch and starts from post two for driver Mario Charron. In his last start he led from start to finish and was last year’s Sire Stakes champion in his division. Somoli E starts from post nine in the second tier and has won two of his three starts in the series.
Also in the second tier is Andovers Touch in post 11. He made a costly break and was last in last week’s race, but prior to that had been first or second in his last six starts. Monster Mass is another good contender, winning in his last start and finishing first, second or third in his last six starts.
After this Sunday’s special holiday night program, racing will return to Sunday afternoons with first race post time at 1 p.m.
To view Sunday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Sunday Entries - Hippodrome 3R.
(Hippodrome 3R)