All eyes were on harness racing's top three-year-old pacing colts on Saturday night as they hit the track to compete in eliminations for the prestigious $1.5 million Pepsi North America Cup at Mohawk Racetrack

. The winners will pick their post positions for the June 18 final at the post draw on Tuesday at the Campbellville, Ont. oval.

Powerful Mist kicked off a trio of $50,000 Pepsi North America Cup eliminations with a mild 5-1 upset in rein to Tim Tetrick.

Rockabillie (Sylvain Filion) grabbed the early lead ahead of 1-9 favourite Big Jim (Phil Hudon) and put up a :26.4 opening quarter with Hempt winner Custard The Dragon (Montrell Teague) parked out in third.

As they entered the backstretch, Big Jim made his move, pulling the pocket and rolling up to take over command. Big Jim reached the half in :54.4 and three-quarters in 1:22 while Tetrick sent Powerful Mist, who settled away sixth in the early going, around the fading Custard The Dragon and after the heavy favourite.

Big Jim dug in, but could not hold off the rallying Powerful Mist, who soared past to score in 1:50.2 by one and a half lengths. Rockabillie, the 63-1 longshot, got up for second over Big Jim while Bestofbest Hanover (Jack Moiseyev) finished fourth.

“Last week was an effort that was good enough to win, the numbers looked great,” said Tetrick of his colt’s third place showing in his division of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes behind Up The Credit and Big Jim. “He’s just a nice little horse and makes my job easy. He’s so nice to drive. He’s quick and handy. I kind of half started him up to leave and then I changed my mind. He just came right off and did what I wanted him to do.”

Tetrick admitted he was a little worried that Powerful Mist had too much ground to make up, but noted the colt was live right through to the wire.

“The first quarter was mild, it was :26, but it was still a mild :26. I was back there quite a ways and the horse overcame a bad trip, he had to go three-wide early up in the turn and he did the rest. He was very good, he paced all the way to the wire. He’s just an everyday worker.

“This horse has really never showed a bad race,” added Tetrick. “He’s always showed up and whatever they go I think he can go because he’s handy and you can put him in a good spot. He just does everything right.”

Powerful Mist paid $12.20 as the 5-1 second choice. Melvin Givens trains the Powerful Toy-Misty Speed colt for owners Legacy Racing Of De Inc. and Niel Gargiulo of Delaware and Louie Paglierani of Florida. The Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund Stakes winner and Hempt runner-up recorded his fourth win in seven seasonal starts, pushing his 2011 earnings to $186,000.

Fresh off a victory in last weekend’s Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, Up The Credit rallied home off cover to capture the second elimination with Jody Jamieson in the bike.

Eighteen (Paul MacDonell) took command of the field off the gate and reached the first quarter in :27.4 before driver Brett Miller summoned Betterthancheddar from the pocket and blasted to the top.

As they raced to the half in :56, Shadyshark Hanover (Tim Tetrick) advanced first up from fifth with Jamieson and Up The Credit following his cover from sixth.

Shadyshark Hanover moved up to look the leader in the eye at the third quarter station in 1:23.2 and edged ahead in the stretch, but Up The Credit unleashed his late closing kick to get up in time to prevail by half a length in 1:50.4. Shadyshark Hanover finished second with Eighteen third and Townslight Hanover (Scott Zeron) fourth.

“I wasn’t sure where I was going to land there when the gate folded and then I saw [Shadyshark Hanover] out there and thought it would be a good helmet to follow, and obviously it was. My horse, he raced great again,” said Jamieson following the victory.

“I think the horse is a creature,” he continued. “When he sees a horse in front of him he just wants to get by. He just went by them late in the stretch, but that’s really all he had to do. It just seems that’s the best way to race him. Last year, I think I moved him to the front up the backside once and he seemed to get hot so I just think if we can track [cover] next week in the final, they’re going to go hot fractions no matter what, no matter who gets in the final or where they draw for that matter. We get to pick our post so that will make it a lot easier.”

When asked to compare Up The Credit's 1:49 winning time last week to tonight's effort, Jamieson noted the track was a little deep this evening.

"We had the two-year-old babies qualifying today and they had the track really good for them and with the rain expected I think they tried to close it up, but it's still pretty deep. It's not going to hurt them, it just slows them down abit.”

Up The Credit paid $3.40 to win as the bettor’s choice. The Western Terror-Cantbuymehappiness colt is trained by Carl Jamieson, who co-owns with Thomas Kyron of Toronto, Joanne Morrison of Beeton, Ont. and Quebec’s Brian Paquet. The win was Up The Credit's fourth in five seasonal starts and lifted his 2011 earnings to $130,750.

Big Bad John also delivered on his pari-mutuel promise in the third and final elimination, earning his fourth victory of the season in as many starts with Brett Miller in the sulky.

Wink N Atcha (Brian Sears) took control of the field off the gate with Roll With Joe (Randy Waples) moving up alongside him and Post 7 starter Big Bad John caught three-wide into the first turn.

Roll With Joe cleared the lead at the :27.2 first quarter with Big Bad John following and moving up to take over as they headed down the backstretch. Big Bad John reached the half in :55.3 while Mystician (Jody Jamieson) made the first over sacrifice from fourth, with Dutch Richman (Tim Tetrick) following his cover.

Mystician applied pressure to the leader at three-quarters in 1:24, but Big Bad John turned back that challenger and kicked away in the stretch to score by two and a quarter lengths in 1:50.3. Roll With Joe finished second with Dutch Richman and Foreclosure N (Sylvain Filion) third in a deadheat.

Following the victory, Miller admitted that he was concerned after being parked almost to the half.

“I was very concerned and when I made the front, he was being a colt," he said. "He was looking at things. He acted like he was looking at the timers and I know most of the pylons are white, but some of them are yellow, and he was looking at those. He had me a little worried, but then when I called on him in the stretch, he seemed fine. This colt, he always paces right through the wire and he felt that way tonight.”

Big Bad John paid $3.60 to win as the 4-5 favourite. The Western Hanover-Trulyaworkofart colt, a winner of $97,568 so far this year, is trained by Ron Potter for Winchester Baye Acres Inc. of Ocala, Florida.

For recaps of Saturday's undercard, featuring the Fan Hanover eliminations for three-year-old pacing fillies and the Goodtimes Trot eliminations for three-year-old trotting colts, click here.

For results from Saturday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.