A Puzzle for Trois-Rivières Bettors

Race secretary Guillaume Cayer-Richard has skillfully shuffled the deck for Sunday’s card at Hippodrome Trois-Rivières, giving bettors a real handicapping puzzle. The card appears highly competitive, and racing fans will face several difficult wagering decisions.

In the afternoon’s feature event, 7-year-old trotting mare Stella Alpha returns to action after two years on the sidelines. The daughter of Royalty For Life gave birth last year to a filly by Green Manalishi S and impressed last week with a 2:02.3 qualifying mile. However, drawing post seven will be no easy task. Reigning driving champion Pascal Bérubé, who recorded five victories last week, will be in the sulky.

Greenleaf, the horse with the most starts in the field this season with 11 outings, and Royalty B N are the two rivals who completed the trifecta last week behind Yes, who scored in 2:02.4.

In one of the supporting events for pacers non-winners of $5,500 in their last five starts — the ninth race on the card — Perpetual Rock could take advantage of the rail position to visit the winner’s circle for the first time this year. Driven by Marie-Claude Auger, the Yves Tessier trainee dominated the opposition in 1:57.1 in the Preferred class during the latest program presented at Trois-Rivières.

But the leading contender remains Light The Torch, who will also start from post seven, just as he did last week when he rallied from the back of the pack to finish third. Should he dictate the pace as he did in his 1:57.4 qualifying mile on May 2, there is little doubt the son of Always B Miki would give his rivals plenty to handle.

First post Sunday is scheduled for noon. Be there!