Pascal Berube two away from 100 wins at H3R

Trois-Rivieres, QC – Harness racing driver Pascal Berube scored a driving triple at the Hippodrome 3R on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 30) and is now just two wins away from becoming the first driver ever to win 100 races in one season at the track.

Berube already surpassed the track record that he set of 86 wins back in 2004. He now waits with 98 wins until next Sunday, November 6, which is closing day for the 2022 season at H3R.

The brother and sister duels in the 3^rd race co-feature trot never emerged on Sunday. Stella Alpha (Royalty For Life) won the race, but her brother Archimed Alpha was last. And the brother-sister entry of Kinderunbelievable and Kinnder Dangerzone did not fare well too, both making breaks and finishing 6^th and 7^th respectively.

But Stella Alpha cannot be ignored. She is the “Princess of Trot” this year at H3R for trainer Sylvain Tremblay and showed it again on Sunday. With Pascal Berube in the sulky, she came first-over against pacesetter Royalty Beer (Kevin Maguire) after a :28 first quarter.

They pushed Royalty Beer to the half mile in :58.1 as Morally Flexible (Stephane Brosseau) picked up the second-over cover behind Stella Alpha with Muscles Forever (Sylvain Fontaine) sitting the pocket trip behind Royalty Beer.

Stella Alpha was persistent, grinding it out and taking the lead away from Royalty Beer at the three-quarters in 1:28. Then down the stretch Stella Alpha remained the strong horse, holding off Morally Flexible to win by one and three-quarter lengths in 1:59.1. Muscles Forever was third.

It was the ninth win on the year for Stella Alpha. Eight of her wins have been at H3R, making her the winningest horse this season going into the last week of racing.  The homebred three-year-old filly was bred and is owned by Tremblay’s Alpha Stable of Metabetchouain. She paid $3.60 to win as the race favorite.

STELLA ALPHA REPLAY

In the 9^th race co-feature for the top pacers, Kiss Me Bad (Badlands Hanover) and driver Steven Gagnon, made a bold first-over move against the 1/9 race favorite Mickeymaksomespeed (Pascal Berube) in the backstretch after the half mile and blew by them en route to a three length triumph in 1:56. 25-1 Macho Polo (Sylvain Fontaine) was second with Mickeymaksomespeed third.

It was the third straight win and fourth victory of the year for the six-year-old mare. She is owned and trained by Steven Gagnon of Yamaska and paid $11.20 to win.

KISS ME BAD REPLAY

In the 1^st race of the day for filly and mare pacers, Café Society (Betterthancheddar) with driver Pascal Berube were able to grind it out first-over against Shanghaibluebeach (Daniel Laflamme), taking the lead by the top of stretch and winning by one and three-quarter lengths in 1:56.3. It was her third win in her last four starts at H3R.

CAFE SOCIETY REPLAY

Track Notes: Both leading driver Pascal Berube and leading trainer Sylvain Tremblay have unsurpassable leads for their respective titles. It will be the fifth driving title for Berube. For Tremblay, who had a training double on Sunday and now has 29 wins from this stable this year, it will be his second straight title. Next Sunday, November 6, is the final day of live racing at H3R for the 2022 season. First race post time is 12:00 noon. For more information, click here.

For complete race results, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink