Two moves get Only For Justice home free

Only For Justice (Justice Hall) made two big moves to finally get the lead and pull away from the harness racing field in winning the $5,000 Preferred Trot Friday afternoon (June 14) at the Hippodrome 3R (H3R).

The 4^th race feature saw Frido PV (Pascal Berube) grind it out against Muscles Forever (Sylvain Fontaine) to take the lead by the opening quarter mile with race favorite Only For Justice (Francis Picard) also leaving but taking a tuck in third place by the opening quarter mile in :29.2.

After rounding the turn the first time, Picard came first-over with Only For Justice and pressured Frido PV to the half mile in :59.3. Then in the backstretch, Picard dropped Only For Justice into the two-hole, but before the three-quarters in 1:28.3, they came back again and took the lead away from Frido PV. Meanwhile, Thats Hooligan (Marie-Claude Auger), who was going for his fourth straight win, was then first-over but was not going to pose a threat to Only For Justice.

Coming down the stretch, Only For Justice pulled away from the field and won in a romp by six and three-quarter lengths in 1:58.2. Frido PV held for second over Thats Hooligan.

ONLY FOR JUSTICE REPLAY

It was the fastest trotting mile of the season at H3R and the first win in three starts for Only For Justice. The eight-year-old gelding is trained by Linda Belanger for Ecurie Gaetan Bono, Inc. of Laval, Que. and paid $3.50 to win.

“Only For Justice last year had an injury following his victory in the $30,000 final,” Trainer Linda Belanger explained. “So, we gave him 6 months of rest. I qualified him twice and today was his 3rd start, so he was ready. Only is a high-class horse, and we give him the best care we can to keep him in good shape. And today he gave it back to us.”

Track Notes: Stephane Brosseau led everyone with a driving triple Friday and Linda Belanger had a training double. Live racing resumes Sunday afternoon (June 16) starting at 12:00 noon. Featured will be 9^th race Preferred-Handicap Pace featuring the return of Light The Torch, who is eligible to the $200,000 Prix d’Ete at H3R August 18. Also in the race are newcomers from Mohawk Park, Acapulco Sunburn and Savoir Duharas. The Quebec Jockey Club has announced a new partnership with Ghislain Paquet’s Passion Courses. The social media platform has thousands of subscribers, all of whom follow harness racing. The site is in both French and English and can be viewed by clicking here. For more information and free race programs, visit here.

by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club