It was a beautiful sunny afternoon at the Hippodrome 3R Sunday for the $470,000 Super Sunday finals of both the Breeders Trophy Series for three-year-olds and the Future Stars Series for the two-year-olds.
The rich race card and sunny weather also brought out the biggest crowd to the races since covid closed off spectators coming to the track in 2020.
And driver Louis-Philippe Roy put on a show for the race fans as he won five of the eight Quebec-Bred finals.
$60,000 3YO Filly Trot Final
X O X O had been perfect in the Breeders Trophy Series until todayās final.
Last yearās champion, Mag N Lady (Samuel Fillion) shot out to the early lead with X O X O (Jerome Lombart) also leaving and grabbing the two-hole spot, but on the turn X O X O went off-stride, leaving Mag N Lady all alone to the first quarter in :29.2.
Race favorite Elegance Duharas (Louis-Philippe Roy) took the two-hole spot and followed Mag N Lady to the half mile in 1:01.1 and then the three-quarters in 1:31.2 with Mag N Lady holding a two-length advantage.
Then as those two came down the stretch, Mag N Lady began to tire and Elegance Duharas under a drive by Roy, was able to catch Mag N Lady before the wire to win by a half length in 2:02. Tuscans Beauty (Stephane Brosseau) was third.
A filly sired by Muscle Mass, Elegance Duharas posted her second win of the season for trainer Denis Gueriel and paid $3.50 to win. She is bred and owned by Haras De L Estrie, Inc. of Dunham.
ELEGANCE DUHARAS REPLAY
$60,000 3YO Colt Trot Final
Both the race favorite, Emotions Riches (Stephan Gendron) and Hall Win (Louis-Philippe Roy) left sharply for the lead with Emotions Riches maintaining control of the lead to a quick opening quarter of :27.3.
They pulled away from the field as Emotions Riches led to the half mile in :59.1. Then before the three-quarters in 1:29.3, Roy pulled from the pocket and sent Hall Win after Emotions Riches and those two went head and head around the final turn and down the stretch until Hall Win wore the leader down and won by one length in 2:01. Wishful Glide was third.
Hall Win ($5.90) notched his sixth win of the year for trainer Kevin Maguire. The colt by Angus Hall was bred and is owned by the Maguire Stable of Sainte-Marie.
HALL WIN REPLAY
$60,000 3YO Filly Pace Final
Louis-Philippe Roy and Got Sexy Scars ($3.00) was first on the lead with Platine Alpha (Pascal Berube) to the first quarter in :27.3 and was immediately challenged on the outside by Celia Bayama (Sylvain Filion), who was the 2020 Quebec-Bred Champion.
Filion and Celia Bayama pressed Roy and Got Sexy Scars to the half mile in :56.1 and stayed strong on the outside as they passed the three-quarters in 1:25.3.
Then in the stretch, Got Sexy Scars continued to hold off Celia Bayama, winning by one and one-quarter lengths in 1:57. Platine Alpha was third.
Sired by Sportswriter, it was the third win this season for Got Sexy Scars. She is trained by Richard Morea and was bred and is owned by Bruno Lepage of Beauharnois.
GOT SEXY SCARS REPLAY
$60,000 3YO Colt Pace Final
In a wild half mile start to the race, Cadillac Bayama ($3.80) and driver Sylvain Filion crushed the field and set a track and stakes record with a six and one-half length romp in 1:52.3.
The race started off with YS Do It Right (Louis-Philippe Roy) going to the quick lead by the first quarter in :26.4.
Then right before the half mile in :55, Colonel Bayama (Justin Filion) came first-over with Cadillac Bayama following the live cover, but that was not good enough for Sylvain Filion and he took Cadillac Bayama three-wide around the turn, clearing to the lead by the backstretch.
From there Cadillac Bayama tore away from the field, leading by five lengths at the three-quarters in 1:22.4 before sailing home an easy winner by six lengths. The Light Speed (Guy Gagnon) was second with Chantee (Stephane Gendron) third.
The time surpassed the previous track record time of 1:52.4 set by Ashleys Best in 2019 and the Quebec-Bred stakes record of Du DorOrleans of 1:52.4 in 2013.
It was a lifetime mark for Cadillac Bayama and the third win this year for the Sunshine Beach colt. He is trained by Yves Filion, whose Bayama Farms of Saint-Andre-DāArgenteuil, owns and bred him.
CADILLAC BAYAMA REPLAY
$50,000 2YO Filly Trot Final
With the 4/5 race favorite HP Felicity (Sylvain Filion) going off-stride trying for the early lead, the lead belonged to Stella Alpha ($6.30) and driver Pascal Berube, who sped to the opening quarter in :29.2 with Cleveland Moneyka (Stephane Brosseau) sitting second, four lengths behind Stella Alpha. The rest of the six horses in the race made breaks and were out of the hunt.
Stella Alpha maintained her lead through fractions of 1:00.3 and 1:31.1 before pulling away from Cleveland Moneyka to win in a romp by seven and three-quarter lengths in 2:01. Cleveland Moneyka was second with Lune Duharas (Louis-Philippe Roy) third.
It was a lifetime mark and a stakes record for the daughter of Royalty For Life and her fourth win this year. She is trained by Sylvain Tremblay and was bred and is owned by his Alpha Stable of Metabetchouan.
The former stakes record was 2:01.1, co-held by Meganou in 2014 and Claudi P V in 2018.
STELLA ALPHA REPLAY
$50,000 2YO Colt Trot Final
Royalty Beer ($2.10) made it a clean sweep of the Future Stars Series, winning all three preliminary rounds and was much the best in the final.
Leaving from post five, driver Louis-Philippe Roy sent Royalty Beer to the lead and was up by seven lengths by the opening quarter mile in :30.2. Roy then backed down the pace, going to the half mile in 1:03.1. Kenogami Rebel (Stephane Brosseau) closed up the gap to be second, but in the backstretch Cleveland Massimo (Samuel Fillion) came first-over and dropped into second place behind his stablemate at the three-quarters in 1:34.1.
From there Royalty Beer breezed home to win by one and three-quarter lengths over Cleveland Massino with Sammy Justice (Pascal Berube) grabbing third money.
It was the fourth straight win for Royalty Beer. The gelded son of Royalty For Life is trained by Jean Francois Maguire, who also bred him and co-owns with Jean Maguire of Sainte-Marie.
ROYALTY BEER REPLAY
$50,000 2YO Filly Pace Final
Sunjet Ray ($2.10) and driver Louis-Philippe Roy were the overwhelming 1/9 favorite and raced like it. Leaving hard at the start, Sunjet Ray was up by six lengths by the opening quarter in :27.4. They backed it down to the half mile in :58.4 as HP Mary Sunshine (Pascal Berube) took the pocket trip.
In the backstretch D Gs Shallow (Jonathan Lachance) came first-over and pressed Sunjet Ray to the three-quarters in 1:29.1.
Coming down the stretch Sunjet Ray was able to hold off D Gs Shallow to win by one length in 2:00.2 with HP Mary Sunshine third.
It was a lifetime mark and the third win of the year for Sunjet Ray. The Sunshine Beach filly is trained by Francis Richard and is co-owned with Guillaume Desrochers, Dr. John Bradbury and Charles Marquis.
SUNJET REPLAY
$50,000 2YO Colt Pace Final
HP Momentum ($5.20) picked the perfect time to win for the first time in his young career.
Leaving from post six for driver Sylvain Filion, HP Momentum was stretched out to the opening quarter mile in :28.3 by Aladdin Du Lac (Louis-Philippe Roy). HP Momentum then led the field past the half mile in :58.2 as Kaporal (Stephane Gendron) came first-over with Y S Mathis Bro (Jonathan Lachance) following second-over.
In the backstretch, Lachance took Y S Mathis three-wide and pushed the leader to the three-quarters in 1:27.4 but was unable to clear so they raced three-wide around the final turn.
In the stretch HP Momentum kicked in another gear and pulled away to win by two lengths in 1:57.3. Y S Mathis Bro was a game second place finisher with Aladid Du Lac third.
It was the maiden victory for HP Momentum in his eighth lifetime start. The gelded son of Control The Moment is trained by Jean Tourigny, who co-owns with Claude Hamel with Gestion Belanger. Hamel bred the colt with Celine Paquin.
HP MOMENTUM REPLAY
$10,000 Invitational Pace
Former Quebec-Bred champion Eclat De Rire ($3.40) and driver Stephane Gendron were able to lead from start to finish with a 1:55.1 three-quarter length triumph over a very determined and first-over effort by D Gs De Vito (Jonathan Lachance), who is also a former Quebec champion. Dreydl Hanover (Pascal Berube) was third.
It was the third win of the season for Eclat De Rire, a four-year-old gelded son of Leader Bayama, trained by Maxime Velaye for breeder/owner Guy Corbeil of Mirabel.
$10,000 Invitational Trot
Four-time Quebec-bred champion, Capteur De Reve ($3.60), was at his best. Handicapped with the far outside post eight, driver Stephane Gendron sent the seven-year-old Muscle Mass gelding out to the lead and they never looked back.
Cutting fractions of :28, :59.2 and 1:28.3, Capteur De Reve put away the first-over challenge from Magic Night (Samuel Fillion) and pulled away in the stretch to win by three and one-quarter lengths in 1:58.4. Magic Night was second with former Quebec-Bred champion Babidibou (Sylvain Filion) third.
It was the third straight win and fifth victory of the season for Capteur De Reve, who is trained by Maxime Velaye and was bred and is owned by the Provoquante Stable of Mirabel.
Track Notes: Following up on LPRās five wins was Stephane Gendron with three wins and Sylvain Filion with two wins. Maxime Velaye led all trainers with three winners from his stable. Live racing resumes at H3R next Sunday (Sept. 19) with first race post time at 12:10 pm.
For full results click here.
By Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club