Platine Alpha, the Queen of Pace at the Hippodrome 3R, will be looking to continue her winning ways on Sunday (June 19): she's going for her third straight victory.
The sixth race on a nine-dash card is the Preferred-Handicap Pace for mares, and Platine Alpha was handicapped and drew the far outside Post 8 for driver Jimmy Gangon.
Owner-breeder-trainer Sylvain Tremblay, who hails from Metabetchouan, Que., more than a three-hour drive away from Trois-Rivieres, has made the trips worthwhile as he is again the leading trainer this season at H3R with 10 wins from his stable.
He has an impressive UTRS of .406 and his stable is the leading money-winning barn in 2022 at $30,348.
Platine Alpha (Control The Moment) got off to a slow start in 2022, but has now picked up the speed she had shown last year when she won nine times and was the winningest horse at H3R. Two starts back, the four-year-old mare was parked-out the mile against rival La Petite Grise and still came away with a 1:58.2 victory.
Then, just two days later, last Sunday, she got a two-hole trip and breezed home in 1:58.3.
That’s how she became the Queen of Pace at 3R.
While usually not a leaver from the starting gate, Platine Alpha did show a race back on May 22 where she left from Post 6 into a :28.3 first quarter and then wired the field.
“She is in perfect shape,” Tremblay said about racing his mare two days apart last week.
La Petite Grise starts alongside Platine Alpha in Post 7 for driver Pascal Berube. She's one of the few who has beaten her rival in the past.
A four-year-old mare by Sportswriter, La Petite Grise is trained and co-owned by Fernand Jodoin of St-Pie-De-Bagot, Que., with Michel Letendre of Saint-Jude, Que. She has yet to finish worse than second in six starts, including three wins, the fastest a 1:57 score at 3R.
Also in the field are Sophies Cam (Post 6), a 1:57.1 winner two starts back, Whitemountaincammy (Post 2) and Fancy Girl (Post 1).
Three return winners headline the Preferred-Handicap Pace (Race 7), but all eyes will be on Siddhartha from Post 6 for driver Steeven Genois as they go for their third straight win.
The six-year-old So Surreal gelding has been in peak form as of late for owner-trainer Louis-Philippe Turcotte of Trois-Rivieres, and last week was the proof as Siddhartha got live cover and flew off it down the stretch to win the Preferred Pace in 1:54.4.
That was the fastest mile of the year at 3R.
The other two return winners are Spectrum Seelster (Post 1), who wired the field in his last start with a 1:56 score and the prior start he was second by a neck in 1:55, and Goldinthebadlands (Post 2), who was parked out last week first-over the entire mile and still came home a winner in 1:55.2 for driver Stephane Brosseau.
First-race post time on Sunday is 12 noon. For a free race program, visit hippodrome3r.ca. To view Sunday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Sunday Entries - Hippodrome 3R.
(Quebec Jockey Club)