Undefeated filly goes for fourth straight at H3R

Justine Ray (Shadow Play) is a grey filly, just age 2, but she has been turning heads in Quebec this season as she is undefeated in three starts and headlines one of four harness racing divisions of the Future Stars Series at the Hippodrome 3R (H3R) Sunday, Aug. 4 in Trois-Rivieres, Que.

This is the second round of Future Stars Series for two-year-old pacers. There are four $7,500 divisions, two for the fillies and two for the colts.

Justine Ray starts from post three in the 10th race second division of the series. She will have H3R’s leading driver, Pascal Berube, in the sulky. Justine Ray is trained by Yves St Jacques for owner Michel Letendre.

In each of her three wins, Justine Ray has increased in speed by nearly two seconds with each start. Her last start was the opening round of the series, and she wired the field, as she has done in all her starts, this time in a huge romp by nine and one-half lengths in 2:00.1.

Looking for the upset will be Ontario invader Silver Majesty (All Bets Off) from post six for driver Denis St Pierre. She was third, timed in 1:58.4, in her last start at Kawartha Downs.

The first division for the pacing fillies is the 5th race which features Coeuratout Du Lac (Control The Moment) from post five for driver Pierre-Luc Roy. The filly was bred by the Roy brothers, Pierre-Luc and Louis-Philippe Roy.
Coeuratout Du Lac was second to Justine Ray in their last start and prior starts in Ontario show her winning in 1:59.3 at Georgia Downs.

The colts get underway in the 3rd race featuring Greattime Bayama (Bettors Delight) from post five. He was third in an opening round division of the series and has a qualifying win at Mohawk Park of 2:00.3. Greattime Bayama hails from the stable of Hall of Famer Yves Filion, whose Bayama Farms bred and owns the gelding.

The 8th race is the second colt division and features opening round winner Winchester Phoenix (Bettors Delight). Trained by Dominic Gladu, the colt will be driven by Stephane Brosseau, who wired the field last time out in 2:03.

The race favorite in the field is newcomer The Magic Moment (Control The Moment) from post four for driver Jonathan Lachance. In his pari-mutuel debut at Grand River Raceway for trainer Francis Guillemette, The Magic Moment was third by just three-quarters of a length in 1:55.3.

The special 13-race program gets underway Sunday at 12:00 noon. For more information and free race programs, visit here. After this Sunday, there will be no racing next weekend at H3R as the Grand Prix auto races take over the town of Trois-Rivieres.

by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club