Aflame Hanover, a pacer at the top of the alphabetical list of Pepsi North America Cup eligibles, made news Wednesday when he surfaced for the first time this season. Now, coincidentally enough, the pacer at the bottom of the alphabetical list has made the news just a day later.
The NA Cup eligible in question, Yacht Week, recorded his first charted mile of his ’19 campaign during qualifying action at the Meadows in Pennsylvania. The one thing that jumped out more than anything was that the son of Somebeachsomewhere is now under the tutelage of the world’s most successful Standardbred trainer, Ron Burke.
The Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Jandt Silva Purnel & Libb, and G And B acquired the bay colt in the middle of February, and it’s safe to assume that the conglomerate was interested in seeing how the sophomore would perform Thursday morning.
Yacht Week had Dave Palone in the race bike when he took to the track for the first qualifier of the Thursday session. The duo fired out well over the ‘fast’ track and was first to every call. The battery cut all the fractions (:28.1, :29.2, 1:26) before getting up for a five-length lead at the head of the stretch. Yacht Week sealed the deal with a 28-second final quarter and was first under the wire eight and a half lengths the best. The win time was 1:54.
The colt was an $85,000 yearling purchase in Lexington in the fall of 2017 and made all of his 13 freshman starts for his former conditioner, Staffan Lind. Yacht Week would go on to win two of his juvenile starts and record a trio of third-place efforts. He took his mark of 1:51.2 over Kentucky’s Red Mile and ended up banking $35,863 over the course of his freshman campaign.
The Pepsi North America Cup is Canada’s richest harness race. This year’s edition is scheduled for Saturday, June 15 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The eliminations for the $1 million final will take place a week prior on Saturday, June 8.
To view the list of 82 pacers that were nominated to the 2019 Pepsi North America Cup, which features a purse of $1 million, click here.