The Showman takes five at Hippodrome 3R

The Hippodrome 3R featured its first Friday twilight racing card today (June 9) with a nine-race card that saw driver Jocelyn “The Showman” Gendron winning five races on the program, including the Preferred Pace.

The 7th race feature started off with the race favorite, Manhattan Joe, who was going for his fourth straight win, made a costly break at the start of the race.

That enabled Windsun Cheyenne (Jimmy Gagnon) to take the early lead and stuff Mickeymaksomespeed (Mickey Hanover) with driver Jocelyn Gendron into the two-hole spot by the first quarter in :27.3.

Coming to the half mile marker, Proberts Legacy (Marie-Claude Auger) came first-over to challenge with Twomacsonemach (Robert Shepherd) second-over. Windsun Cheyenne led to the half in :57.3.

Then in the backstretch, Proberts Legacy kept gaining on Windsun Cheyenne, so Gendron pulled from the pocket with Mickeymaksomespeed to follow the outside flow. At the three-quarters in 1:27, Proberts Legacy cleared to the lead, leaving Mickeymaksomespeed first-over with Siddhartha (Stephane Brosseau) sweeping three-wide on the final turn.

As the three horses started down the stretch, Proberts Legacy began to fade while Mickeymaksomespeed still had enough stamina to hold off Siddhartha and win by a neck in 1:56.3. Spectrum Seelster (Francis Picard) was third.

It was the first win in five starts for Mickeymaksomespeed. The six-year-old stallion was bred, owned and trained by Michel Allard of Saint Espirit, QC and paid $5.00 to win.

In the third race Preferred Trot, it was all Frido PV (Muscle Mass) and driver Jonathan Lachance. They shot right to the front and held the field at bay through fractions of :29.1, :59.4 and 1:29.1 before pulling away in the stretch to win by four open lengths in 1:59. Morally Flexible (Stephane Brosseau) was second with Fix A Drink (Marie-Claude Auger) third.

For Jocelyn Gendron, he became the first driver this season to have won five races on a program. No one had yet to win even four races on a problem.

It was the third win in four starts this year for Frido PV. The six-year-old stallion is trained by Yves St Jacques for owner-breeder Marcel Brouillard of St-Marcel-De-Richelieu, QC. The heavy favorite paid $2.50 to win.

Track Notes: While Jocelyn Gendron won five races Friday, two of those wins came from trainer Michel Allard. Live racing resumes on Sunday (June 11) with the first stakes races of the 2023 season at H3R. The opening round of the Quebec-Bred Series for older pacers features two divisions for the mares and one division for the horses. Featured are Platine Alpha, Fancy Girl and Prettydiva for the mares while The Light Speed, who is on a three-race winning streak, heads the horse division against D Gs De Vito and Aladdin. Post time Sunday is 12:00 noon.