Just days after having captured the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup at Mohawk Racetrack, the connections of Wakizashi Hanover have entered their star Dragon Again gelding to contest this Saturday’s eliminations for the Max C. Hempt Memorial, which will be part of an attractive card of racing at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

Wakizashi Hanover, who is owned by the Tri County Stable of Truro, Nova Scotia, has drawn Post 4 in his ‘Hempt’ elim, which will feature some of the sport’s finest three-year-old pacing colts and geldings.

‘Wakizashi,’ named after a traditional Japanese sword, is coming into the Hempt elims off a very convincing 1:48 victory in the NA Cup, where he got up in the lane to upend the previously undefeated Wiggle It Jiggleit, who had been the titan of the ‘glamour boy’ division to that point.

The connections of 26 three-year-old pacers entered their charges to contest the Hempt, which has necessitated three eliminations. The first elim has been carded as Race 6 and will feature a field of nine, as will the second elim, which will head postward for Race 8. The final elim (Race 10) will house a field of eight starters. Wakizashi Hanover has been drawn into the third elimination. Trainer Joann Looney-King has listed ‘Cup’ winning driver Tim Tetrick to be in the race bike. The fields for each of the eliminations appear below.

The robust program will feature many of industry’s current stars. Three-year-old pacers of both sexes, three-year-old trotting colts and free-for-all pacers will all be looking to earn spots in their lucrative divisional championships. All of the elimination starters will be looking to gain entrance to the $1.8 million ‘Sun Stakes Saturday,’ which will take place on Saturday, July 4.

An early look at each of the four groups of horses that will be competing in this Saturday’s eliminations appears further down in this story. First-race post time for the 16-dash card is 6:30 p.m.

ELIMINATION 1
(Race 6 – $25,000)
(Post – Horse –Listed Driver)
1 – K Rock – TBA
2 – Pierce Hanover – Brett Miller
3 – Paparazzi Hanover – Corey Callahan
4 – In The Arsenal – Brian Sears
5 – Rufo – Matt Kakaley
6 – Artspeak – Scott Zeron
7 – Oneisalonelynumber – David Miller
8 – Cardiac Fashion – George Napolitano Jr.
9 – Tomy Terror – Corey Callahan

ELIMINATION 2
(Race 9 – $25,000)
(Post – Horse –Listed Driver)
1 – Betting Exchange – David Miller
2 – Dragon Eddy – Corey Callahan
3 – Rock N Roll World – Scott Zeron
4 – Blood Brother – Yannick Gingras
5 – Wiggle It Jiggleit – Montrell Teague
6 – National Seelster – Andy Miller
7 – Americanprimetime – Tim Tetrick
8 – Sicily – Matt Kakaley
9 – Mcardles Lightning – Scott Zeron

ELIMINATION 3
(Race 10 – $25,000)
(Post – Horse –Listed Driver)
1 – Badiou Hanover – Andy Miller
2 – Allbeef N Nobull – Brett Miller
3 – Yankee Bounty – Yannick Gingras
4 – Wakizashi Hanover – Tim Tetrick
5 – A Bettor Hat – Jim Morrill Jr.
6 – Lyons Levi Lewis – Yannick Gingras
7 – Lost For Words – David Miller
8 – Jo Pas Well Said – David Miller

BEN FRANKLIN FREE-FOR-ALL PACE ELIMS

(Two $30,000 eliminations [Races 7 and 9], with the top four – plus the fastest fifth-place horse – returning for the $500,000 Championship)

The first Franklin elim is headed by the richest horse in the history of harness racing, Foiled Again, who will be starting from the middle of the nine-horse field for trainer Ron Burke and driver Yannick Gingras. The 11-year-old went over the $7 million mark in career earnings when he won the Battle Of Lake Erie on June 12. Few will forget his 2013 Pocono campaign, where he won the elimination and final of both the Franklin and the Breeders Crown, taking his lifetime mark of 1:48 in the Franklin elim.

The biggest threat to Foiled Again may be Domethatagain, who won the $529,000 Levy final at Yonkers in April, and who produced a $60 shocker in the Franklin elims last year by nosing out Captaintreacherous over his ‘home track’ of Pocono. Trained by Rene Allard, Domethatagain will start from Post 6. Tim Tetrick has received the early listing for sulky duty. Domethatagain will coupled in the wagering with his Allard barnmate, Big Boy Dreams (PP3, Brian Sears).

In the second Franklin elim, any number of angles could play out:

• There is the Ron Burke stable coupled entry of Clear Vision (PP4, Brett Miller) and Bettors Edge (PP6, Matt Kakaley), who between them have won over $3.85 million in their careers;

• There are the last two Pennsylvania Horses of the Year for outstanding performances in Open overnights, Dynamic Youth (2013) (PP7, Andrew McCarthy) and Dancin Yankee (2014) (PP8, Brett Miller);

• There is another sharp Rene Allard trainee, Bigtown Hero (PP2, Simon Allard driving), who has won three straight, and who had half of North America’s 1:20-or-less clockings to the three-quarters pole last year, both of them at Pocono;

• And there is State Treasurer, the recent winner of the Gold Cup at Mohawk Racetrack and the Molson Pace at The Raceway at Western Fair District, but who will have to translate his Canadian form to local success after having drawn the outermost Post 9 for driver David Miller.

EARL BEAL JR. THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT TROT ELIMS

(Three $25,000 eliminations [Races 3, 5, 12], with the top three finishers coming back for the $500,000 Championship)

In the first Beal elim, Habitat (PP3, Jim Morrill Jr.) will look to carry on his fine 2015 form (he has recorded wins in the Dexter Cup and two New York Sire Stakes events).

Just to Habitat’s right in the field of six will be Cruzado Dela Noche (driver David Miller has been listed), who was second only a half-length to Uncle Lasse in a 1:51.4 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes contest at The Meadows at the end of last month.

The second Beal cut, which will feature a seven-horse field, will find the most attention on Pinkman (PP5, Brett Miller). The 2014 national champion and Breeders Crown winner is undefeated thus far in 2015 and has won a PASS event at each of Pennsylvania’s three major tracks this season. Just for good measure, Pinkman will be coupled in the wagering with his Jimmy Takter barnmate Whom Shall I Fear (PP4, Yannick Gingras), the full brother to Pastor Stephen and Father Patrick.

Also to be respected in this division are two recent double PASS winners, Guess Whos Back (PP3, Brian Sears) and Wicker Hanover (PP7, Andrew McCarthy).

In the third Beal elimination, Crazy Wow and Uncle Lasse will clash. Crazy Wow (PP2, Yannick Gingras), who has shown the ability to repair a mistake with breathtaking speed, will be coming into the race off of an open-length score in the Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon Downs. Uncle Lasse, who has been saddled with the outside Post 6 for driver Brett Miller, has been, to many eyes, nearly as impressive in the PASS as his Takter stablemate Pinkman. He has gone three for three, which includes his 1:51.4 triumph at The Meadows.

MAX C. HEMPT THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT PACE ELIMS

(Three $25,000 eliminations [Races 6, 8, 10], with the top three gaining entrance to the $500,000 Championship)

The first elim for the glamour boy division matches up last year’s divisional champion Artspeak and his closest 2014 challenger, In The Arsenal. Artspeak will start from Post 6 for driver Scott Zeron. He won his first two starts in NJSS competition before heading to Mohawk Racetrack to contest the Pepsi North America Cup. In The Arsenal had opened his year with four straight wins, including his NA Cup elim, before finishing fourth in the final. He may have a slight positional advantage in the Hempt with his Post 4 start. Brian Sears is listed to drive.

The middle Hempt elim has at its centre the speedy Wiggle It Jiggleit (Post 5). The gelding had shown amazing speed in taking his lone start of 2014 and all 10 of his 2015 starts prior to the NA Cup final, but cutting a searing pace of 25.1, 53.3, and 1:21 proved just a bit too much, although he held gamely to miss by only three-quarters of a length to Wakizashi Hanover in a sterling 1:48.

North America Cup champion Wakizashi Hanover will begin from Post 4 in the eight-horse third elim for driver Tim Tetrick. He will face a major challenge from Lost For Words (David Miller), who is undefeated in four seasonal starts.

JAMES LYNCH THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACE ELIMS

(Three $20,000 eliminations [Races 4, 11, 13], with the top three finishers advancing to the $300,000 final)

The first elim for the ‘Lynch’ will feature the ‘2-3’ finishers in the $100,000 NJSS final for this division, with Stacia Hanover, who finished a close second, returning with first-time Lasix. She will start from Post 6 in the seven-horse field for driver Scott Zeron. Wicked Little Minx – who has drawn Post 4 and will be driven by Brett Miller – was only a length from taking it all in the NJSS finale.

Wicked Little Minx is trained by Nancy Johansson, the daughter of Jimmy Takter. Johansson also conditions the main horse of interest in the second elimination, JK Shesalady (PP1, Tim Tetrick). The ‘Lady’ was undefeated in a 12-race campaign to become the first two-year-old pacing filly to be elected Harness Horse of the Year, but this race represents her first possible crossroads, since she comes in after off-the-board finishes in the Fan Hanover at Mohawk. Sassa Hanover (PP4, Yannick Gingras), a Fan Hanover elim winner, and The Show Returns (PP6, John Campbell), second in the Fan Hanover final, should provide challenging competition.

Two horses from the huge barn of Ron Burke, uncoupled in the betting because of separate ownership, will get their share of attention in the third Lynch elim. Southwind Roulette, named co-Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Horse of the Year in 2014, will start from Post 2 for Matt Kakaley after two seconds and a third in recent Pennsylvania stakes competition. Happiness (PP5, Yannick Gingras), shows a NJSS win, and was fourth in the NJSS final.

(with files from PHHA/Pocono)