Silver Majesty ends win streak for Justine Ray

Unbeaten two-year-old pacing filly Justine Ray was going for her fourth straight harness racing win at the Hippodrome 3R (H3R) in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec Sunday (Aug. 4) afternoon but as fate would have it, she made a costly break at the start of the race.

It was the 10th race, the second $7,500 division of the second leg of the Future Stars Series. There were four $7,500 divisions Sunday, two for the fillies and two for the colts.

With Justine Ray, the huge 1/9 wagering favorite, out of the race, it became a wide-open affair. First on the lead was 15-1 HP Top Modele (Jocelyn Gendron), who led the field to the quarter in a speedy :28.4 with 10-1 Silver Majesty (All Bets Off) and driver Denis St Pierre outdueling Myvaliam (William Roy) for the two-hole trip after the half mile in :59.4.

Regrouping from going off-stride, Justine Ray and driver Pascal Berube caught up with the field by the half mile, then took a tuck into fourth place by the backstretch as HP Top Modele led to the three-quarters in 1:29.4.

As they went around the final turn, St Pierre came out of the pocket with Silver Majesty to come after HP Top Modele. By the top of the stretch Silver Majesty was on the move, collaring HP Top Modele in mid-stretch and then pulling away to win by three lengths in 2:00.2. HP Top Modele was second with Justine Ray finishing third.

It was the maiden win in four starts for Silver Majesty. She is trained by Jean-Francois Maguire for the Silver Stable and Marie Michelle Gaboury, paying $22.80 to win.

SILVER MAJESTY REPLAY

The first division for the pacing fillies was the 5th race where the overwhelming 1/9 race favorite, Coeuratout Du Lac (Control The Moment), and driver Pierre-Luc Roy were unstoppable, leading from start to finish in a romp by eight and three-quarter lengths in 2:04. Mikamaksomespeed (Denis St Pierre) was second with Wild River Raccoon (Stephane Brosseau), who made a break at the start of the race, but came back to finish third.

Trained by David Pilon, it was the second win in five starts for Coeuratout Du Lac, who is a homebred bred by Louis-Philippe Roy and Pierre-Luc Roy and is co-owned by Louis-Philippe Roy Racing, Maude Larouche, Michel Letarte and Jean Allaire. She paid just $2.10 across the board.

COEUGRATOUT DU LAC REPLAY

In the 3rd race first division of the series for the colts, it was HP Bellissino (Sportswriter) and driver Robert Shepherd who came first-over before the half mile, blew by pacesetter Changement Detemps (Stephane Brosseau) and then went on to win with ease by two and three-quarter lengths in 2:01.

Chagement Detemps was second with race favorite Koz Im Doc (Marie-Claude Auger) finishing third. It was the maiden pari-mutuel start for HP Bellissino, who is trained by Chantal Mitchell and was bred and is co-owned by Claude Hamel with Jean Denis Pelletier. He paid $8.20 to win.

HP BELLISSINO REPLAY

The 8th race second division for the colts saw the 2/5 favorite Ontario invader, The Magic Moment (Control The Moment), and driver Jonathan Lachance sped to the early lead and led the entire mile, winning with ease by two and one-half lengths in 2:02.

The pocket-sitting Winchester Phoenix (Stephane Brosseau) tried to rush up on the race leader around the final turn to no avail and held for second place with Deal Speed (William Roy) third.

Trained by Francis Guillemette and bred and owned by Gestion A& a Belanger, Inc., it was the first win in two starts for The Magic Moment. He paid $2.80 to win.

THE MAGIC MOMENT REPLAY

Track Notes: Robert Shepherd scored a driving quadruple Sunday as did David Pilon on the training side. It was the first time this season for Shepherd and Pilon is the first trainer to send out four winners this season. Pierre-Luc Roy had a driving double. H3R will be taking a week off of live racing due to the Grand Prix auto race in the town of Trois-Rivieres. Live racing will resume on Friday, Aug. 16. On Sunday, Aug. 18, H3R will feature the return of its premier event, the $200,000 Prix d’Ete for four-year-old pacers. Eligible horses include standouts It’s My Show, Voukefalas, El Rey, Act Fast, Huntinthelastdolar and local favorite, Light The Torch. For more information and free race programs, visit here.

For complete race results, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club