Two-year-old pacers took centre stage on Sunday (Aug. 16) at Hippodrome 3R in a quartet of opening-round divisions of the Future Stars Series.
Hall of Famer Yves Filion started off the show winning the first division for fillies with 11-1 long shot Celia Bayama.
The 1-9 favourite CL Sportsextreme (Guy Gagnon) took the lead away from Paltine Alpha (Carol Voyer) after a :28.1 opening quarter. After the half in :58.2, CL Sportsextreme looked very comfortable on the lead, passing the three-quarters in 1:28.1.
Filion, who sat in the back of the pack with Celia Bayama, finally got into the hunt on the final turn, sweeping three-wide from sixth. As they reached the top of the stretch, CL Sportsextreme made a costly break, enabling Filion and Celia Bayama to rally in the line to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:59.1. Ibiza Panic (Francis Picard) was second with Nikita Sena (Steeven Genois) third.
It was the maiden victory for Celia Bayama after three lifetime starts. The daughter of Bettors Delight, a homebred from Bayama Farms, is trained by Filion and paid $25.00 to win.
Celia Bayama rallied down the outside to win her first-round division of the Future Stars Series at Hippodrome 3R.
The second division for fillies saw D Gs Magicmoment and driver Jonathan Lachance sit the pocket, then move to the lead over SOS Faline (Stephane Brosseau) and lead the rest of the way, winning by a half length over SOS Faline with SG Alexia (Sylvain Grenier) third.
It was also a maiden victory after four lifetime starts for D Gs Magicmoment. Sired by Control The Moment, D Gs Magicmoment is trained by Guylaine Fortin for breeder-owner Daniel Surprenant and paid just $2.10 to win.
The faster colt division went to Cadillac Bayama with trainer-driver Yves Filion in the seventh race.
Favourite YS Do It Right and driver Stephane Brosseau took the lead away from Gordro Outofhisway (Pierre-Luc Roy) after a :28.4 opening quarter and :59 half, with Filion and Cadillac Bayama sitting in third waiting to make their move.
That move came at the three-quarters in 1:29.3, as Filion came first-over against Brosseau. Cadillac Bayama was up to the task, but it took an intense stretch drive battle before Cadillac Bayama got up by a neck over YS Do It Right in 1:58.1. Godro Outofhisway was third.
It was the second straight win after three lifetime starts for Cadillac Bayama. He is sired by Sunshine Beach and bred and owned by Bayama Farms, paying $5.10 to win.
The first division for the colts saw favourite D Gs Runforhim and driver Jonathan Lachance lead from start to finish in a slow 2:03.4. Yves Filion made a late bid with Colonel Bayama and was second by a length with Moobeam Godro (Pascal Berube) third.
A colt by Sportswriter, D Gs Runforhim posted his maiden victory after three lifetime starts for trainer Guylaine Fortin, who co-owns and bred the colt with Daniel Surprenant. He paid $3.80 to win.
The series will culminate with a $55,000 final on Sept. 27.
Next weekend will be the last three-day weekend of live harness racing at H3R. Friday (Aug. 21) will feature the opening round of the Future Stars Series for two-year-old trotters, Saturday (Aug. 22) is the final day of racing for the Québec Regional Fair Circuit, and Sunday (Aug. 23) is the second leg of the Breeders Trophy Series for three-year-old pacers.
For more information, visit www.hippodrome3r.ca.
To view Sunday's complete results, click the following link: Sunday Results – Hippodrome 3R.
(Québec Jockey Club)