Hippodrome 3R: Filion and Roy to be on-hand for Quebec championships

Two of the top harness racing drivers in North America, Sylvain Filion and Louis-Philippe Roy, will be plying their trade at the Hippodrome 3R (H3R) in Quebec for the track's C$471,000 Super Sunday (Sept. 12) race program.

Super Sunday features eight championship finals at H3R. The four finals for the 3-year-old trotters and pacers each have a purse of $60,000. The four finals for the 2-year-olds each have a purse of $50,000.

The race card also features two $10,000 Invitational events, one for the trotters and one for the pacers.

The Super Sunday program is the richest horse racing day in all of Quebec.

Both Filion and Roy are Quebec natives who started their careers racing on the Quebec Regional Fair Circuit and then at the Hippodrome 3R before heading to stardom in Ontario.

Between the two drivers they have won a total of seven O'Brien Awards as the leading driver in all of Canada. Filion has won the O'Brien Award four times and Roy three times. Filion has 9,466 career wins, while Roy has 1,764 career wins.

Roy has drives in all 12 of the races Sunday at H3R, while Filion will compete in nine of the races. Filion is listed to drive four morning line favorites while Roy is listed on two race favorites.

Roy will drive Aladdin Du Lac in the seventh 2-year-old colt pace final. Roy bred and owns the Sunshine Beach colt. Filion will drive two of his father's horses, Hall of Famer Yves Filion. They are Celia Bayama in the ninth race 3-year-old filly pace final and Cadillac Bayama in the 11th race 3-year-old colt pace final. Both horses are the morning line favorites.

Post time for the 12-race program on Sunday is 12:10 pm. For a free race program, visit www.hippodrome3r.ca.

-edited release (Steve Wolf for the Quebec Jockey Club)