12-1 upset in inaugural Francois Carignan Cup

The Hippodrome 3R (H3R) in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec was the host of the inaugural Francois Carignan Cup Sunday (Oct. 13) which was the championship final of the 2024 harness racing season for amateur drivers.

And scoring a big upset Sunday was amateur driver Nancy Auger (no relation to driver Marie-Claude Auger), who was able to lead from start to finish with 12-1 Mach Play (Shadow Play) in the 9^th race feature.

Leaving from post three, Auger, who also trains Mach Play, left and went right to the front with On Cruise Control (Mathys Lapointe) sitting the pocket trip and Mad Pacha (Mario Dupont) parked out first-over after a game three-wide move at the start from post eight. The first quarter went in :28.2.

The pace picked up as Mach Play led the field to the half mile in :57.2 and then in the backstretch, On Cruise Control left the pocket and came first-over, giving race favorite Jayport Lexus (Marc Lemay) second-over cover by the three-quarters in 1:28.2.

Auger kept Mach Play on top around the final turn and coming to the wire held off a late charge by Jayport Lexus to win by a three-quarters a length in 2:00.2. Better Kissthe Men (Nicole Gagne) was third.

It was the sixth win this season for Mach Play, the eight-year-old gelding is owned by Joel Gagnon of Pont Rouge, Que. and paid $27.00 to win.

MACH PLAY REPLAY

The Quebec Jockey Club, the Association trot et amble du Québec (ATAQ) and the Quebec Regional Fair Circuit revived amateur racing this season at both H3R and the Regional Fair Circuit.

In the winner’s circle, a check for $2,300 was presented to the local Trois-Rivieres organization, Point de Rue. Point de Rue has been assisting homeless and social exclusion people since 1993.

The Francois Carignan Cup is named after the director of operations at H3R, who came to the group explaining that one of his sons suffers from mental health problems and has become homeless over the years, like hundreds, if not thousands, of people in large cities. They then agreed to the charity and named the final after Carignan.

There was a pair of $13,500 3YO Opens for Quebec-bred and owned trotters and pacers Sunday.

The trotters saw the overwhelming 1/9 favorite, Cleomax Duharas (Muscle Mass) and driver Pascal Berube go down the road and win with ease in 1:59.3 by one and three-quarter lengths over Last Try (Sylvain Lacaille) with MVPs Daughter (Jerome Lombart) third.

One of only two fillies in the race against colts, Cleomax Duharas, who earlier this season won the $65,000 Quebec Championsip Final, posted her second straight win and seventh victory of the year. She is trained by Marc-Andre Simoneau, who co-owns the filly with Desjardina Noreau Stable, Dany Fontaine and Jean Fontaine. She paid $2.30 to win.

CLEOMAX DUHARAS REPLAY

In the pace co-feature, G A Speed Expert (Francis Picard) won in a romp by six open lengths in 1:57.1 but was disqualified by the judges and place seventh after causing interference on the first turn.

Placed first was Dan Speed (Malicious) and driver Jessica Turenne. Third placed second was Classic Jim (Stephane Brosseau) with HP Game On (Antoine Desrochers) third.

It was the second straight win and third of the season for Dan Speed. He is trained and co-owned by Yannick Marquis with Joannie Paquette, Maxim Gagnon and Nicole Gagnon, paying $11.20 to win.

Track Notes: Pascal Berube continued his winning ways Sunday scoring a driving quadruple. Both Marc-Andre Simoneau and Michel Legace had training double. Live racing resumes at H3R next Sunday, October 20 with first race post time at 12:00 noon. For more information and free race programs, visit here.

For complete race results, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club