Genois steals the show closing day at H3R

Harness racing driver Steeven Genois stole the show on Sunday at the Hippodrome 3R, winning four races on the nine-race program. Each of the four wins were with horses from different trainers.

It was closing day at the Hippodrome 3R and the very first race on the program pretty much summed up the leading driver and trainer titles for the 2021 race meet.

The trot race saw Archimed Alphia ($2.30) with driver Pascal Berube bully their way to the front and win with ease for co-owner, breeder and trainer Sylvain Tremblay and his Alpha Stable in 2:02.3.

The driver-trainer duo was sent off as the 1/9 betting favorite and that is how Berube and Tremblay competed throughout the H3R season.

Berube, winning the H3R driving title for the second straight year, won 63 races, eight more than rival Stephane Brosseau. He drove nearly all of the Alpha Stables horses in 2021.

As for Tremblay, it is his first training title at H3R and his Alpha Stable dominated whenever they competed throughout the season and in the sire stakes races. Tremblay sent out 31 winners and his nearest rival was four-time defending training champion, Francis Richard, at 19 wins.

Histoire Enchantee and driver-trainer Simon Delisle were able to sweep three-wide on the final turn and gun down race favorite D Gs De Vito (Jonathan Lachance) to win the fifth race Preferred Pace in 1:58.3.

Farmers Tan (Carol Voyer) cut the mile with Mickeymaksomespeed (Steeven Genois) in the pocket seat. After the half mile, Lachance came first-over with D Gs De Vito, giving Histoire Enchantee great second-over live cover.

Then in the stretch, Histoire Enchantee blew by his competitors, winning by two lengths. D Gs De Vito was second with Farmers Tan third.

It was the seventh win of the season, all at H3R for Histoire Enchantee, a seven-year-old gelded son of Shanghai Phil, co-owned by Aurelie Delisle and Raymond Bouffard. He paid $16.30 to win.

HISTOIRE ENCHANTEE REPLAY

In the sixth race Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace, it was a very gutsy performance by the lone three-year-old filly, Platine Alpha, who came first-over after the opening quarter mile and was parked out the entire mile, winning in 2:01.

Fancy Girl (Francis Picard) went to the early lead with Jans Legacy (Samuel Fillion) sitting the pocket seat. Platine Alpha, with Steeven Genois in the sulky, came first-over, giving Wild River Swan (Jonathan Lachance) great second-over cover.

Platine Alpha was able to hang tough first-over and by the top of the stretch had worn down Fancy Girl and then held off a late closing Fern Hill Bella (Carol Voyer) to win by a head. Jans Legacy was third.

It was the second straight win and ninth win on the year for Platine Alpha. The Control The Moment filly, bred, owned and trained by Sylvain Tremblay and the Alpha Stable of Metabetchouan and paid $7.20 to win.

PLATINE ALPHA REPLAY

The honor of being the winningest horse of the 2021 season came down to this final day of racing.

After the fifth race co-feature, Histoire Enchantee joined D Gs De Vito, Platine Alpha and X O X O, all tied with seven wins at H3R.

That only lasted until the very next race when Platine Alpha won the Mare Preferred Pace and took away top honors as the winningest horse of the 2021 season with eight wins.

Along with Steeven Genois winning four races Sunday, Pascal Berube scored a driving triple and Sylvain Tremblay scored a training triple.

Track Notes: Simulcasting continues at H3R and its Off-Track-Betting sites in Quebec daily. Dates have yet been approved for the 2022 race season. Quebec Jockey Club President, Claude Leveque, said that they are looking for a return of the prestigious Prix d’Ete Pace for four-year-olds in 2022. For more information, click here.

For full race results, click here.

By Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club