"I think he can pace just as fast around Flamboro as he does around Mohawk."

With that, trainer Ryan Maxwell told Trot Insider that the connections of speedy three-year-old pacing colt Hare Craft intend to ante up the $25,000 supplemental fee to race in the 2011 Confederation Cup, set for Sunday, August 14 at Flamboro Downs.

Fresh off his 1:51 win on Tuesday night at Mohawk, Maxwell knows it's a step up in class for Hare Craft (Yankee Cruiser-Hare Trigger) but is confident in his pupil's abilities on a half-mile track over two heats.

"He's not a really big horse so he can handle a half pretty easily," noted Maxwell. "He got around Northfield pretty handily so I have no worries there. We'll see if he can go with these colts."

On July 9, the Ohio-bred shipped back to his home state after being purchased by Waterloo's Steve Heimbecker. A 1:52 13-plus length win over the flying turns at Northfield Park eased any concerns over how Hare Craft would race on a smaller track.

"I think the half-mile track will be a bit of an equalizer for him," stated Maxwell.

In 11 starts this year, Hare Craft has six wins and more than $80,000 in purses. Since the purchase, the gelding's record is 3-2-1 in six starts including a lifetime best 1:49.3 mile in June at Mohawk. In the start prior -- his first start for his new connections -- Hare Craft finished third, timed in 1:51 and just over two lengths behind this past weekend's Adios champ and world record holder Alsace Hanover.