"He had some bad luck in the Breeders Crown Final, made a break going into the last turn. It's easy to say but I believe that if he hadn't have made a break that night he'd have been there on the wire."

The countdown to the 2016 Pepsi North America Cup continues, with Trot Magazine profiling the horses predicted to be the top contenders for Canadian harness racing's richest prize.

At 16-1, American Passport is the second of three New York-sired colts in Trot's 2016 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book, coming at #7.

The son of American Ideal went on a sensational run in early Fall, with three straight Grand Circuit victories including the Elevation at Hoosier Park and back-to-back weeks at The Red Mile where he took his mark of 1:51.4 over an off track. A $29,000 yearling purchase, American Passport is owned by Brittany Farms, Riverview Racing LLC, Jodi Siamis and trainer Tony Alagna's Algana Racing LLC. Trot Insider caught up with Alagna for an update.

Where did he winter?

"He was turned out at Brittany Farms in Kentucky after the Breeders Crown."

When did you bring him back in to start training?

"He came down to Florida around the first of January."

Where are you at with him? (as of March 30)

"He's been in 2:00 in the bike, Scott Zeron came down to train him and he trained great. We're going to train him one more time this week and then he's going to ship North to New Jersey."

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

"He got a little bit taller but really filled out a lot. A lot more muscle, a lot more thickness to him...I was really pleased with how he came in from turnout."

Anything you can point to as a reason why he made that break in the Breeders Crown?

"Just immaturity. He had so many gears, he'd go through a couple of gears before he'd find one he was comfortable with...that was his biggest problem early, he just tried to do too much too fast and he just wasn't quite ready for it.

"Scott did a great job of educating him and sticking with him to teach him how to be a racehorse and that paid off for him in the Fall."

Is he showing more maturity now as a three-year-old?

"Definitely, he shows a lot more maturity training down."

When will he qualify?

"I really haven't set a schedule yet. It's our first time being down in Florida and shipping up so we'll just play it by ear depending on how he comes out of the ship. I would say sometime around the first part of May."

What's his early schedule looking like leading up to the Pepsi North America Cup?

"I'm probably going to guess most likely the Somebeachsomewhere. He'll use that as a prep going into the N.A. Cup."

What is he staked to past the North America Cup?

"He's staked thoroughly all the way through."

At what point last year did this horse show you North America Cup-level talent?

"You know, we always had a lot of faith in the horse even though he didn't get started on the right foot. He always had a ton of ability, a very, very fast horse. When he put that string of races together in Lexington and Indiana, he kind of showed everybody that he was the kind of horse [there] that we thought he was all along."

What makes this horse such a great competitor?

"Extremely quick turn of speed, he's a quick-footed horse, he can really get into gear fast...sometimes he was his own worst enemy and he'd get into gear too fast but I see a lot of similarities between him and Artspeak as far as their quickness and the way turn on speed very fast."