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Trois-Rivieres, QC – This Sunday’s (Oct. 2) harness racing program at the Hippodrome 3R features the annual Lucien Bombardier Pace for two-year-old fillies with total purses of $37,300 split between two divisions.
While the purse for the stakes race is not the biggest this weekend in North America, it is attractive enough to bring three-time O’Brien Award winning driver, Louis-Philippe Roy (LPR) back home to Quebec to compete on the Sunday card.
LPR, along with his old brother, Pierre-Luc Roy, have a vested interest in the Bombardier Pace as their homebred two-year-old, Pocahontas Du Lac, is the race favorite in the second of the two divisions.
They own the broodmare, Sheissuchadream, who has had two foals so far. They are Aladdin Du Lac (Sunshine Beach), who the Roy brothers raced at age 2 and then sold as a three-year-old.
And then there is Pocahontas Du Lac, the younger sister by Betterthancheddar, who has been outstanding at age 2 this season. She sports four wins this season, the fastest a 1:57 record taken in the C$55,000 final of the Quebec Bred Championships. She already sports C$40,528 in earnings this year and is the morning line favorite for the Roy Brothers who co-own her with Maude Larouche and Jean Allaire.
But in checking the records it was noted that their broodmare, Sheissuchadream, has not had a foal since Pocahontas Du Lac was born in 2020.
“Unfortunately, she (Sheissuchadream) didn’t catch the 2 years before,” LPR explained. “Her and Norvena Hanover are the first two mares we have ever bred. Pocahontas is part of our second year of breeding. Sheissuchadream is now full (in foal) of Cattlewash right now.
“We have actually three yearlings that are coming from my brother’s farm that are starting their training lessons,” Roy added. “And that we have between 25-50% in shares still available, Ronda Du Lac, Olaf du Lac and LaMachineAScorer, and hopefully among them another winner of a Coupe de L’avenir!”
Lucien Bombardier marked the history of trotting and pacing in Quebec in his own way, and especially in his last role as manager of the famous Angus farm. Even though his career took place entirely in the last century, the influence of his high-quality breeding is still felt thirty years after his death.
This gentleman has held over the years just about every important function in the industry, and as such, he can really be considered a builder: by turns he was a driver, trainer, then executive for Blue Bonnets Raceway, he left his mark having worked there for twenty-five years. And we are not talking about all the committees and boards on which he has sat. In short, styling a race dedicated to breeding with your name is a good way to preserve your memory. Mr. Bombardier has obviously been a member of the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame since 1986.
The race was developed and is co-sponsored by Standardbred Canada and the Quebec Jockey Club.
The first division of the Bombardier Pace is the 5th race and is headlined by Ladycorona (Bettor’s Delight) from post four for driver Pascal Berube.
This filly was a maiden until last week when she exploded with a first-over mile en route to scoring a three and one-half length victory in 1:58.2. She is trained by Yves Tessier for owner-breeder Sotirios Anastasopoulos of Sainte-Therese.
Her main rival in the race is Autumns Passion (post 5), who has a 1:55.4 record at Georgian Downs and two wins in just four starts for trainer Marie-Claude Auger and owner Martin Chouinard of Quebec City. Also, a contender is Double Gum (post 3) who has two wins, the fastest a 1:58.3 record at H3R. She will be driven by Robert Shepherd for owner-breeder Pierre Marc Longpre of Chelsea.
The 10th race second Bombardier division has Pocahontas Du Lac the favorite for LPR from post five. Since her big triumph in the Quebec Championship, she was third last week at H3R in a prep race for the Bombardier.
Her rival this season, Godiva Shadow Girl (Shadow Play), goes from post three for driver Robert Shepherd. She has an impressive record of five wins in eight starts, a record of 1:58.2 and has never finished worse than third in all her starts for trainer Lyne Asselin and owner-breeder Raymond Larose of St-Henri-De-Levis. Her last two losses have come to Ladycorona and Pocahontas Du Lac.
A newcomer to H3R is Quick Menu (Stay Hungry, post 2) for driver Samuel Fillion. This filly has two wins, the fastest a 1:57.2 record mile at Georgian Downs and most recently has been racing at Mohawk Park where she was second two starts back in 1:55.2.
LPR is listed to drive in 11 of the races on Sunday. Also returning to compete at H3R are Guy Gagnon and Samuel Fillion.
H3R features a strong 13-race card on Sunday with all but the two Lucien Bombardier divisions featuring nine-horse fields. First race post time is 12:00 noon. For a free race program, click here.
by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club
