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On Friday at the Hippodrome 3R (H3R) in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, the harness racing trotters will be in the spotlight with two special Quebec-bred races. One for the older horses and the other for three-year-olds.
The older horses are on the track first in the 6th race $8,500 trot and making his return after a brief layoff is former Quebec-bred champion, Royalty Beer (Royalty For Life).
It has been nearly a year since Royalty Beer last raced at H3R. Owned and trained by Jean Francois Maguire of Sainte-Marie, Que., the Maguire stable bred the five-year-old gelding, who was a household name in Quebec at age 2 and 3.
Then Maguire tried his trotter at Woodbine Mohawk Park at age 4 and he won six times with a lifetime record of 1:54 and then it was off to the USA and trainer-driver Patrick Lachance, the son of Hall of Famer Michel Lachance.
Racing mainly in the Invitational and Open Trots at Yonkers Raceway, Royalty Beer was a tiger, winning a total of eight times with earnings already in 2024 of C$134,961 with just two wins, but also six second place and four third place finishes in races with purses of more than $35,000 per start.
Then at the end of May, Royalty Beer was sent back home to Quebec and now Maguire has brought his top trotter back to H3R to hopefully prepare to head back and race in the USA.
Royalty Beer has post eight for driver Pascal Berube in the main event Friday. He recently prepped with a qualifying race at H3R last week where he was a game second by a nose in 2:01.4.
“Royalty Beer is great right now,” Jean Francois Maguire said. “We turned him out at my cousin’s (Kevin Maguire) farm in Sainte-Marie and he has trained him back.
“He may need a couple of starts before he returns to the USA,” Maguire said. “I hope he is ready to rock on Friday but post 8 is tough.”
Tough it will be for the return of Royalty Beer as he faces a full field of eight rivals, three of them return winners.
The race favorite is Kinnder Dangerzone (Northern Escort) in post 7 for driver Marie-Claude Auger. This six-year-old returned from a year layoff and was undefeated in his first four starts for breeder, owner and trainer Denitza Petrova, the fastest victory a 1:56.4 lifetime mark at Rideau Carleton Raceway.
But last week, just as he was making a three-wide move in the backstretch to take the lead, Kinnder Dangerzone made a break and finished last.
Another Kinnder horse, bred by Petrova, is Kinnder Motown (post 5), who enters the race off a 1:59.4 victory. Thats Hooligan (post 3) won this class last week for driver William Roy with a 27-1 upset mile in 2:01.3 while La Bromontoise, the lone mare in the field, goes from the rail off a 2:01 triumph at H3R last week.
Then in the 8th race for a purse of $7,000 is the Quebec-bred trot for three-year-olds. All seven of the starters are tuning up for their respective C$65,000 finals of the Breeders Trophy Series at H3R on Super Sunday, September 8.
Jean-Francois Maguire once again owns and trains the 5/2 race favorite, Paradise Moni (International Moni), who starts from post four for driver Denis St Pierre.
Last week at Rideau Carleton, Pierre drove Paradise Moni to an impressive 1:55.4 lifetime mark. It was the second straight win for the colt and his fifth victory on the year for the Maguire Stable. The week prior the colt won in the Breeders Trophy Series with a 1:58.4 triumph.
Starting from post five is rival Captain PV (Wheeling N Dealin), who has his five-race winning streak brought to an end by Paradise Moni in their last start. He will be driven by Marie-Claude Auger for trainer Serge Nadeau.
Also, on a winning streak in the race is Cleomax Duharas (Muscle Mass) for driver Loic Gueriel from post two. Cleomax Duharas is one of three fillies going against the colts, but this filly has won her last three starts and last week at Rideau Carleton took a lifetime mark of 1:58.4.
Other contenders in the race include the entry of MVPs Daughter (post 1) and Last Try (post 6) for owner, breeder and trainer-driver Jerome Lombart.
First race post time for the 10-race card on Friday is 4:00 pm. For free race programs, visit here.
by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club
