The connections of 18 three-year-old pacers have entered their charges to compete in the Pepsi North America Cup eliminations, which will be contested at Mohawk Racetrack this Saturday (June 11).

The eliminations have been carded as Race 5 and Race 7 on the 12-dash program. Each elimination will carry a purse of $50,000. The program will kick off with a 7:30 p.m. first-race post time.

The top five finishers from each elimination will gain entrance to the $1 million final, which will be contested during a stakes-laden program of racing at the Campbellville, Ont. oval on Saturday, June 18.

Many of the three-year-olds that have been entered to contest the ‘Cup’ eliminations prepped over the Mohawk oval last weekend in the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes (click here to view the replays and concise analysis). Others got ready by racing in last weekend’s New Jersey Sire Stakes at the Meadowlands Racetrack (replays/analysis) and in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at the Meadows (replays/analysis).

Four Phenomenal Sophomores Highlight Elimination 1

The Casie Coleman-trained Betting Line will be looking to build off of a pair of solid starts. The brown son of Bettors Delight toyed with conditioned foes on May 21 at Mohawk before winning in sub-1:50 fashion. The colt followed the performance up with well-measured, 1:50.1 win in his Somebeachsomewhere division last weekend at Mohawk. The career winner of eight of 15 races and $594,000 in purses is owned by the West Wins Stable (Cambridge, Ont.), Christine Calhoun (Chatham, Ont.) and Mac Nichol (Burlington, Ont.).

Well Said colt Lyons Snyder is heading into the Cup eliminations off of a pair of sub-1:50 wins for trainer Mark Silva. The bay was winless in five starts last season, but Lyons Snyder has cranked up his game thus far in 2016. The first of the sub-1:50 wins came during Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action at Pocono Downs (on May 22), while the other came last weekend in the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes at Mohawk. He has won four of his six starts this season and is owned by Jeffrey Snyder (New York, NY) and Geoffrey Lyons Mound (Brantford, Ont.).

The Ron Burke-trained Somebeachsomewhere colt Check Six will garner some attention in his Cup elimination, as the bay will enter the contest having won four of his five races thus far this season. His only loss this year came last weekend in a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes event at the Meadows, where he was collared in the late stages and was handed a neck defeat in 1:50. The colt has won eight of his 14 career starts and has only missed the board on three occasions. Check Six checks into Saturday’s eliminations with more than $463,000 in purse earnings for Burke Racing Stable LLC (Fredericktown, PA), Weaver Bruscemi LLC (Canonsburg, PA), William Switala (Clarence Center, NY) and James Martin (Clarence Center, NY).

O’Brien Award winner Control The Moment flashed a quick turn of foot last weekend in the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, which was also his 2016 pari-mutuel debut. The brown son of Well Said ultimately finished second by a half length, but fired home and was individually timed in 1:49. Randy Waples has steered the colt to eight wins from 10 starts for Brad Maxwell (Guelph, Ont.), who co-owns the winner of $480,000 in purse earnings with Howard Taylor (Philadelphia, PA), Edwin Gold (Phoenixville, PA) and Ben Mudry (Toronto, Ont.).

The field for the first elimination appears below.

Elimination 1
(Post – Horse – Listed Driver)
1 – Highlandbeachycove – Scott Zeron
2 – Check Six – Yannick Gingras
3 – Control The Moment – Randy Waples
4 – Lyons Snyder – Sylvain Filion
5 – Beast Mode – Sylvain Filion
6 – Betting Line – David Miller
7 – Im Some Graduate – John Campbell
8 – Ideal Rocky – Corey Callahan
9 – Racing Hill – Brett Miller

Boston Red Rocks Highlights Elimination 2

Rocknroll Hanover colt Boston Red Rocks is heading into the Cup eliminations on a two-race losing streak, but the bay will surely be a dangerous foe in his elim. The career winner of $710,000 in purse earnings made his seasonal debut when he won an opening-leg division of the New Jersey Sire Stakes at the Meadowlands Racetrack. He then finished third by a half length in the second leg and was just beat a neck in the $100,000 final this past weekend. Boston Red Rocks has won five of his 12 career starts, and the Steve Elliott trainee has yet to miss the board in his career. Peter Blood (Pompano Beach, FL) and Rick Berks (Boca Raton, FL) hold Boston Red Rocks’ ownership papers.

The powerful Ron Burke Stable will send out Big Top Hanover, the Western Ideal colt that has been right in the mix at this point in the season. The bay has not made a trip to the winner’s circle yet this year, but he has hit the board on all of those occasions and has not been too far off. The career winner of four of 20 starts was a solid stakes competitor last year at two and banked more than $600,000 in purses. Burke Racing Stable LLC (of Fredericktown, PA) co-owns Big Top Hanover along with JT45 LLC (Long Beach, NY).

The field for the second elimination appears below.

Elimination 2
(Post – Horse – Listed Driver)
1 – Nocturnal Bluechip – Paul MacDonell
2 – Boston Red Rocks – Tim Tetrick
3 – Brookdale Sonny – Mike Saftic
4 – Nvestment Bluechip – Jody Jamieson
5 – Michaels Victory – Sylvain Filion
6 – Big Top Hanover – Yannick Gingras
7 – Manhattan Beach – Yannick Gingras
8 – American Passport – Scott Zeron
9 – Magnum J – Doug McNair

Trot Magazine released its 2016 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book earlier this year. To view Trot's spring book, click here.

To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Mohawk, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Mohawk Racetrack.

For a free, printable program for Mohawk’s Saturday card (courtesy of TrackIT), click here.