More sophomores continue to emerge and improve approaching the 2019 Pepsi North America Cup, now less than two months away.
Thursday's card at the home of the North America Cup, Woodbine Mohawk Park, featured a pair of winners still eligible for Canadian harness racing's richest prize. In the evening's fourth race, the public put its support behind 2018 Champlain stake winner Cruise Captain, making his second start of the year.
With Sylvain Filion at the controls, Cruise Captain sat patiently early as Suprising Credit (Jody Jamieson) fronted the field early before ceding to longshot Size Me Up (Louis-Philippe Roy). Filion was third with Cruise Captain through the mid-stages of the mile, with The Regulator (Phil Hudon) on his back from the onset. Cruise Captain was asked to drive on from third approaching teh third quarter, with Hudon taking that tow to track from second over with The Regulator, as the third station was reached in 1:24.
A stretch-drive slugfest ensued with Size Me Up not giving way, Cruise Captain continuing to close and The Regulator tipping over cover to make it a three-way dance. As those three approached the wire, The Regulator had just enough to power past and trip the timer for the 1:53.4 score at odds of nearly 30-1. Cruise Captain nosed out Size Me Up for second.
Trained by Victor Puddy, The Regulator (Bettors Delight - Exotic Pleasure) is now two-for-three as a sophomore, listed at 90-1 in the TROT Magazine's 2019 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book. Puddy also co-owns the sophomore gelding with Dale Towle of Leamington and Michael Horwood of Tecumseh, Ont.
The ninth race featured the first lifetime start of Mohawk Seelster, the highest priced Standardbred yearling ever sold at auction in Canada. He came through in first attempt to earn back some of that $220,000 London Selected Yearling Sale price tag with a wire-to-wire score against a group of maidens competing for a $15,000 purse. Randy Waples engineered the victory, a 1:56.2 mile over a track rated as sloppy with a two-second variant.
Eric Adams trains Mohawk Seelster (Sportswriter - Machapelo Rose) for owner Millar Farms of Stouffville, Ont. Mohawk Seelster was assessed odds of 110-1 in the N.A. Cup Spring Book.
To view the results from Thursday's card of harness racing at Mohawk, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.