Three-time O’Brien Award winner Louis-Philippe Roy is once again returning to compete at Hippodrome 3R this Sunday.
What’s special about the reinsman’s return to Quebec is not that he is driving on the 10-race program, but that he is also the co-owner along with his brother Pierre Luc Roy and is the breeder of two horses in one of the two stakes race events.
Sunday’s card features the opening round of the Future Stars Series for two-year-old colt and filly pacers. There are three rounds of preliminary action with the top eight-point earners from each gender returning on Sunday, September 12 for their respective $55,000 finals.
Roy is the breeder of two of the colts in the sixth race co-feature. They will race as entry and they are Jafar Du Lac (Post 2) with Roy driving and Aladdin Du Lac (Post 8) with brother Pierre Luc Roy driving.
“I always love to come back and race at 3R,” Louis-Philippe Roy said. “But this Sunday will be extra special with these two colts racing. They are the only two that I bred and we raised.”
Both colts are sired by Sunshine Beach and are now trained by Roy’s good friend, Francis Richard. Jafar Du Lac has two starts at Grand River Raceway, showing good last quarters of :30 and :29.1 in pedestrian times of 2:03.2 and 2:04.1.
Aladdin Du Lac ships in from Woodbine Mohawk Park where he has only qualified once, going in 1:58.3, last quarter in :28.4.
“Aladdin Du Lac is better,” LPR explained. “He’s a little less experienced right now, but I think in a few starts he should be performing well in this series.”
It will most certainly not be easy for the entry from the Roy brothers as they face another entry in the race from trainer Sylvain Tremblay and his Alpha Stable of Titanium Alpha (Post 3) and Ritchie Alpha (Post 5).
Titanium Alpha will be driven by Pascal Berube. This son of Hes Watching came into his own last week at 3R, wiring the field in 2:01 for his first lifetime victory. Ritchie Alpha, who will be driven by Stephane Gendron, also wired the field in last start at 3R in 2:02.
Other contenders include Le Massif (Post 7) for driver Simon Delisle, Arrow Magic (Post 6) with driver Stephane Brosseau and John Luke (Post 9) for driver Jonathan Lachance.
The fillies compete in a non-wagering race featuring D Gs Shallow (Post 2) for driver Jonathan Lachance, Amaya (Post 1) with driver Francis Picard and Godiva Me Amour (Post 3) for driver Stephane Brosseau.
Sunday’s program also has a Preferred-Handicap Trot and Pace with familiar faces Choo Choo Blue, who goes for his third straight win, facing four-time Quebec champion Capteur De Reve in the trot and Mickeymaksomespeed taking on D Gs De Vito in the pace.
Track Notes: New post time goes into effect on Sunday with first race post time at 12:10 pm. For a free race program, visit hippdrome3r.ca.
To view the entries for Sunday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Hippodrome 3R.
(Quebec Jockey Club)