Hippodrome 3R closes season with 40% increase

The Hippodrome 3R in Quebec brought the curtain down on their successful 2023 harness racing season Sunday (Nov. 12) with an impressive 40% increase in total handle wagering over last year for the 41-day meet.

Last year the total handle wagered on the H3R race season was $4,883,915. After Sunday’s ten-race program was in the books, the total handle for the 2023 season was $7,009,974, a 40% increase.

For the fourth straight year, Pascal Berube was the leading driver once again. He totaled 81 wins this year. It was just last year that he became the first driver ever to win 100 races in a season at H3R.  Stephane Brosseau was second with 57 wins.

David Pilon celebrated the first training title of his career, sending out 36 winners from his stable with Marc-Andre Simoneau in second with 30 wins.

Pilon added to his win total in the very first race on the card Sunday as G A Speed Joey (Betterthancheddar) and driver Robert Shepherd crushed the field in the feature pace.

Sports Bettor (Jocelyn Gendron) worked their way to the lead over Howies Man (Daniel Dulude) to the first quarter in :27.4. Then coming to the half mile, the 1/9 favorite G S Speed Joey came first-over, the half in :58.2, but could not get by Sports Bettor until the backstretch.

Once on the lead and by the three-quarters in 1:26.3, Shepherd let G A Speed Joey have his way and they tore off to a four-length lead at the top of the stretch and then winning in a romp by nine open lengths in 1:55.4. That would be the fastest mile on the afternoon. Sports Bettor held for second with GA Speedy Gaby third.

It was the third straight win and sixth of the season for the six-year-old gelding. Trained by David Pilon, he is owned by Alain Carrier and paid $2.30 to win.

G A SPEED JOEY REPLAY

Then in the 2^nd race pace for fillies and mares it was leading driver of the meet Pascal Berube’s time to shine as he brought home 29-1 longshot Silent Voices (Bettors Delight).

Ladysmith (Stephane Brosseau), the lone filly in the field, was the 1/5 favorite and went right to the early lead with HF Agent Andreoli (Marie-Claude Auger) sitting the two-hole trip. The quarter went in :29.1, the half in :59.3 as Bettimontheriver (Jocelyn Gendron) came first-over with Silent Voices second-over.

Not going fast enough in the backstretch, Berube swept three-wide with Silent Voices and following the outside flow was Way Over (Robert Shepherd). Silent Voices was able to clear into first-over at the three-quarters in 1:29.3 and was coming after pacesetter Ladysmith.

Down the stretch it was Ladysmith leading, Silent Voices closing and also in the fray was Way Over. They were three across coming down to the wire with Silent Voices winning by a neck over Ladysmith with Way Over third. Time of the mile was 1:59.4.

SILENT VOICES REPLAY

It was the fifth win this year for Silent Voices. The four-year-old mare is trained and co-owned by Nancy Goulin with Daniel Herbert. She paid $60.10 to win.

Track Notes: Robert Shepherd had a driving triple Sunday. Both Pascal Berube and Stephane Brosseau had driving doubles. David Pilon also had a training double. The Hippodrome 3R will be open all winter long for simulcasting. Live racing will return in April 2024. For more information, visit www.hippodrome3r.ca.

For complete race results, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club