Many eyes were on Control The Moment in his season debut last week and although he didn’t win his Somebeachsomewhere division, the son of Well Said certainly made some noise.

The Brad Maxwell trainee paced a mile in 1:49 with a :26 final-quarter in his season debut to finish second to Lyons Snyder. If it’s possible to make a statement without winning, Control The Moment certainly put the sophomore division on notice with his big effort right out of the gate.

“He raced extremely well,” said driver Randy Waples. “But I mean that was only his first start of the year and he’s going to need a couple of starts before he is right on his game.”

Control The Moment's effort despite not being 'right on his game' definitely sent a message to his competition, and gives just a glimpse into what the pacer will be capable of as the season progresses.

“That’s the kind of horse he is, he’s able to do that kind of stuff,” Waples said about the impressive season debut. “So I was pretty happy with him.”

However, the son of Well Said is on a tight schedule to reach his ‘A’ game with the Pepsi North America Cup eliminations Saturday night. Waples is hopeful Control The Moment’s pure talent will carry him through the next few weeks.

“He doesn’t have much time left so I’m hoping the natural athleticism shows up and he starts winning races in the next week or two.”

Last year’s O’Brien Award winner and Metro Pace champion will need to be ready for a fight in Saturday’s Cup elimination. Control The Moment drew into arguably the tougher of two eliminations against the likes of Lyons Snyder, Betting Line and Check Six.

“It is a tough division, but if he is what he is supposed to be then he’s going to have to face them at some point anyways,” noted Waples. “I just figure he’s one of the tough ones as well.”

Control The Moment has a favourable starting spot in post position three for his Cup elimination. The top five finishers from each elimination will advance to the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup final, set for June 18 at Mohawk.

Needing to be in the top five to qualify for final is less pressure than being top three, as in recent years, but Waples believes the impact of only two eliminations is felt in the draw for the final.

“Even with the two divisions if you don’t win and you don’t get to pick your post, there is only really going to be two good posts gone, probably the two or three, the three or the four,” said Waples. “So that is going to leave lots of opportunities to maybe get lucky and draw a good post.”

Control The Moment enters the Cup eliminations with an impressive career resume of eight wins in 10 starts and earnings of over $480,000. The talented son of Well Said recently acquired a new group of owners, as Tara Hills Stud Ltd. purchased a piece of the O’Brien Award winner.

The Maxwell trainee will look to bring Cup success to the newly formed Control The Moment Stable starting with Saturday’s elimination.

North America Cup Elimination 1
(Post – Horse – Driver - Odds)
1 – Highlandbeachycove – Scott Zeron - 15-1
2 – Check Six – Yannick Gingras - 4-1
3 – Control The Moment – Randy Waples - 3-1
4 – Lyons Snyder – Sylvain Filion - 7-2
5 – Beast Mode – Trevor Henry - 15-1
6 – Betting Line – David Miller - 5-2
7 – Im Some Graduate – John Campbell - 12-1
8 – Ideal Rocky – Corey Callahan - 8-1
9 – Racing Hill – Brett Miller - 10-1

To view the entries for Saturday's stakes-packed card of harness racing 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.

(with files from WEG)