Partyintheshadows wins again, Berube scores quadruple

Partyintheshadows (Shadow Play) notched his second straight harness racing win in the Preferred-Handicap Pace at the Hippodrome 3R Sunday (Oct. 15) with the fastest mile on the 11-race card.

For winning driver Robert Shepherd, it was his third winner on the afternoon, but his effort was overshadowed by reigning H3R driving champion Pascal Berube, who won four races on the card.

And the trainer’s standing was again hotly contested as both leader David Pilon and second place Marc-Andre Simoneau each scored training triples.

In the 10^th race feature it was Jimbelina (Marie-Claude Auger) who went out to the early lead and parked out Sports Bettor (Pascal Berube) to the opening quarter in :27.2.

With race favorite Partyintheshadows coming second-over and Celia Bayama (Stephane Brosseau) sitting in the two-hole, Jimbelina and Sports Bettor continued their battle for the lead past the half mile marker in :56.2.

Once the field reached the backstretch, Shepherd came three-wide with Partyintheshadows, who cleared to the lead at the three-quarters in 1:26.1. Meanwhile, D Gs De Vito (Jonathan Lachance) followed Partyintheshadows three-wide and moved into second place around the final turn.

Partyintheshadows then kicked in another gear for Shepherd and pulled away from the field down the stretch, scoring in a romp by six open lengths in 1:54.1. D Gs De Vito held for second place with Celia Bayama third.

PARTYINTHESHADOWS REPLAY

It was the fifth win on the season for Partyintheshadows, who is trained by David Pilon for owner Francois Morin of Beauceville, Quebec and paid $2.90 to win.

In the 3^rd race pace for fillies and mares, even money race favorite NY Hardcore (American Ideal) and driver Robert Shepherd were able to post her seventh win of the year.

Starting from the second tier in post nine, NY Hardcore and Shepherd were able to follow Pez Dispenser (Jocelyn Gendron) from the start and gain second position, then came to the outside and took the lead at the opening quarter mile in :28.3.

From there NY Hardcore led the rest of the one mile race, winning with ease by three lengths in 1:58.2. Pez Dispenser was second with Larjon Lena (Pascal Berube) third.

Trained by David Pilon, NY Hardcore is owned by Sonia Joly of St-Charles Borromee, Quebec and paid $4.20 to win.

NY HARDCORE REPLAY

Track Notes: In the trainer standings, David Pilon leads over Marc-Andre Simoneau, 29 – 27. With his driving quadruple, Pascal Berube extended his lead over Stephane Brosseau, 71 to 51 with just three days of racing left in the H3R season. Berube looks to be a sure thing to win his fourth straight driving title. Live racing will resume at H3R next Sunday, October 22 with first race post time at 12:00 noon. For more information and free programs, visit here.

For complete race results, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club