Trot Insider continues to profile the horses predicted to be the top contenders for Canadian harness racing's richest prize, the 2020 Pepsi North America Cup.

This year's edition of the North America Cup was originally slated to be contested on Saturday, June 20 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. On Wednesday, Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson announced the race would be postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to the viral outbreak, TROT Magazine compiled its annual ranking of the horses expected to be in contention for the 2020 Pepsi North America Cup.

Continuing the countdown, Catch The Fire comes at #7 in TROT Magazine's 2020 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book at odds of 20-1.

A son of Captaintreacherous-Dream Outloud, Catch The Fire hit the board in nine of his 12 starts as a two-year-old and earned $260,442. The four-time winner, who paced sub-1:50 on two occasions as a freshman, took his mark of 1:49.4 in the Kentucky Sires Stakes Championship at The Red Mile for the Ohio-based Ct Stables LLC.

Trot Insider discussed the promising youngster with trainer John Ackley.

How are you and your stable dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic?

“The health department came out and asked us to watch our distancing with each other and they wanted to make sure no one was in our tack rooms or anything, like a bunch of people playing cards or playing on computers or anything like that. They just want us to keep our distance and not have a whole bunch of people together. I just have my employees and myself and that’s about it. They’ve been pretty fair.

“We had someone come out and they were sitting alongside the road and they called the police and were taking pictures and said we shouldn’t be jogging… but the agriculture end of it is not on shutdown around here. But you’ve got to keep your distance.”

Where did the colt winter?

“We turned him out at Kentuckiana Farm in Lexington, Ky. right after the Breeders Crown. As soon as we got home, within two days he was out.”

When did you start back with him?

“I brought him back in January 10.”

Have you noticed any changes from last year to this year?

“He’s filled out a lot. He got wider in the rear end and his neck got thicker. The extra two weeks I left him there really filled him out. He was getting fed about 18 pounds of grain a day and he was being turned out and he was being put on the wheel for 20-25 minutes, three or four times a week so he wouldn’t be let down completely and he really muscled up a lot, and filled out a lot.

“To be real honest with you, when we brought him back in, he acted like he’d never been turned out. He just was spry and just ready to go. You’ve got to be careful with him, he’s wanting to go too much. He just does everything so easy. He’s not changed much, he’s just got stronger and he’s always been a smart colt so we’re excited to get started but we’re not going to be in a great big hurry.”

Have you backed off with him at all based on the fact that there hasn’t been the ability to race? Has that affected your training at all?

“No, not me. Our two-year-olds don’t have to be ready until July – they go July 2. And I guess, to be honest with you, I had three or four three-year-olds I trained in 2:05, a half in a minute here at home, and I was going to take them down and qualify but we got shut down…I’m trying to keep them fresh and have them ready to go when the bell rings.”

What is he staked to aside from the NA Cup?

“We’ve got the Meadowlands Pace. We’ve got everything you can think of. We’re double staked. We’ve got the Meadowlands Pace or the Adios – we have to choose one of them, they’re pretty close – and then we’ve got a Kentucky Sire Stakes, of course that’s not until September or somewhere in there, and we’ve got some other big races in New Jersey. I think there’s something in New York too. We’re pretty well loaded up. I think we can choose where we want to go to be honest with you.”

What's his biggest asset/strength?

“He’s just so handy. He’s got gate speed and everything. His biggest asset is you can race him anyway you want to. You can step him off the gate, you can race him off a helmet, he’s quick, you know, he’s got quick speed when he comes. He’s just a nice animal. He has a lot of different abilities and I think if we pick our spots and race him to his abilities, I think that he’ll be fine, I think he’ll be able to compete.”

He showed that last year … These colts are so fast now, they come to their speed so quickly and easily, it’s amazing.

“When we were in Lexington, we looked at his six lines and he had paced in [1]:50 and change twice and [1]:49 and chance twice and [1]:51 and a piece. He had the fastest six miles in a row than any other in the country.

“If I had to do it over, I would have managed him a little bit better. After he won in [1]:49.4 there at Lexington, I should have given him the next week off. He had two or three pretty tough [starts]. You know the final in Pennsylvania, he did get trapped in, he wasn’t raced hard, and when he got out, he was flying. Ronnie Burke even said that he was the only colt that had never shortened his stride up down the stretch – he was still digging, reaching… We’re excited, my owners are excited. It’s really nice to have a horse like this. I bought his brother [Captains Place] at Lexington for $105,000 and, right now, I’m not going to tell you he’s going to go in [1]:49 or [1]:50, but he’s really a nice horse. I’m leery about buying full brothers, but he is a nice animal.”

A far cry from what you paid for Catch The Fire as a yearling.

“Yeah, $105,000 for this one [Captains Place] and $15,000 for him [Catch The Fire]. He’s bigger than Catch The Fire – almost twice the size. He’s a big animal and he’s really light on his and I’m sort of excited about him.”

At what point last year did you think Catch The Fire was NA Cup material?

“I would have to say, to be honest, when we raced him in the All Stars at the Poconos and he won in [1]:53 and came his last quarter in :27 flat and he won there like he won in Lexington. Down the stretch, he just sprinted away from them like he was in a different league. Mike [Wilder] got off the bike and he said, ‘I believe we’ve got something here.’ He was leery the first time he ever drove him. I took him out to The Meadows and I said, ‘Mike don’t pay any attention to that line he went in.’ He went in [1]:54 by a nose and I said, ‘Mike don’t pay any attention to that. When they went in behind the gate…he had his tire chomped down three steps out of the gate. His tire was flat, the rim was busted the whole mile. After the race Mike said ‘I wish I had known he was that good, we wouldn’t have got beat.’ I tried to tell him.”