As the calendar turns to June this Saturday, stakes action ramps up in a major way at Woodbine Mohawk Park on June 1 with divisions of the Somebeachsomewhere for three-year-old male pacers, the opening leg of the Graduate Series for four-year-olds, and a leg of the Miss Versatility Series for trotting mares.
A total of 19 sophomore pacing colts and geldings will compete this Saturday in a pair of Sombeachsomewhere divisions, with $84,000 up for grabs in the 10-horse field in Race 3 and a $83,000 purse for the nine-horse split in Race 6.
Sixteen of the 19 colts are eligible for the 2024 Pepsi North America Cup.
Legendary Hanover (PP6, James MacDonald, 6-5) headlines the first Somebeachsomewhere division. The 2023 O'Brien Award winner has won both of his three-year-old appearances for trainer Anthony Beaton, winning his most recent start in a lifetime best 1:48.3, the fastest mile by a three-year-old male pacer this season. The son of Huntsville - Lillian Hanover sports a career summary of 8-2-0 from 11 starts with $428,100 in earnings for owners Eric Good of Davidsonville, Md., West Wins Stable of Wellington, Fl. and Mark Dumain of Pine Bush, N.Y.
Drawing on the outside of the gate, Ontario-sired standouts Funtime Bayama (PP9, Sylvain Filion, 7-2) and Storm Shadow (PP10, Bob McClure, 4-1) will look to avenge narrow losses as betting favourites in their most recent appearances.
Last year's Metro Pace winner, Captains Quarters (PP5, Jody Jamieson, 6-5) continues on his 'Cup' quest and looks to be the horse to beat in the second Somebeachsomewhere division. The son of Captaintreacherous - Prescient Beauty has made just six starts in his career for trainer Herb Holland and owner Rich Stiles of Chelsea, Mi., but he's never missed the board with a 3-1-2 summary and more than $536,000 in purses.
The horses that knocked off the aforementioned Funtime Bayama and Storm Shadow in Ontario Sires Stakes action this past Saturday — Trophy Taker (PP1, J. MacDonald, 6-1) and Nijinsky (PP2, Louis-Philippe Roy, 7-2) — seek a second straight Saturday score along with seasonally debuting Newsroom (PP8, Dexter Dunn, 4-1).
(Of note, all of the horses mentioned above are North America Cup eligible except for Trophy Taker.)
As most of the horses in the Somebeachsomewhere are pointed to the Pepsi North America Cup, the 2023 Cup champ Its My Show is set for his first start on Canadian soil since that million-dollar thriller last June. Its My Show (PP5, Scott Zeron, 9-5) is the morning line choice in the first $66,500 Graduate Series division, card as the fourth race, with a total of 17 horses entered in the first leg of the series. The son of Sweet Lou - Put On A Show sports a summary of 10-6-1 from 26 starts, a world record mark of 1:46.4 and more than $1.3 million in the bank for trainer Linda Toscano and owners Richard & Joanne Young of Florida.
His main rivals in the field of nine look to be a pair of competitors from the 2024 Charles Juravinski Memorial, runner-up All Class (PP3, McClure, 5-1) and Seven Colors (PP9, Dunn, 7-2).
The horse that won the 2024 Juravinski, Huntinthelastdolar (PP8, Yannick Gingras, 2-1) is the morning line fave in the second Graduate division, slated as the eighth race. The Per Engblom trainee sports a 2-1-0 summary as an older competitor for owners John Fielding of Scarborough, Ont., and E Five Racing of Boca Raton, Fl., with his only miss of the top three coming from the eight hole in the Juravinski elim where he finished fourth.
Assembled as a competitive group of eight, the field also features returning OSS graduate Macs Delight (PP2, David Miller, 5-2), seasonally debuting 2023 Progress Pace champ Why Not Now (PP4, Dunn, 4-1) and Ontario Graduate Series champ No Control (PP5, Sylvain Filion, 5-1).
Equally competitive on paper is the field of nine four-year-old trotters dropped in the box for the first Graduate leg on the square gait. Ontario Graduate Series winner Osceola (PP4, Doug McNair, 3-1) makes his first start since that stakes win on May 4, and he'll be tested by the likes of 2022 Mohawk Million winner Oh Well (PP3, Dunn, 9-2), 2023 O'Brien Award winner Ghostly Casper (PP2, Tyler Borth, 5-1), and speedy stakes winner Kierkegaard K (PP5, Gingras, 7-2).
Carded as the fifth race, the Graduate Trot sports a purse of $99,750.
Stakes action kicks off in the second race of the card as a stout group of seven trotting mares will head postward in the $53,200 second leg of the Miss Versatility Series. A force as a four-year-old, M Ms Dream (PP4, D. Miller, 6-5) looks just as strong at five and faces stakes rivals for the first time this season after a pair of Open wins at Harrah's Hoosier Park to start her campaign -- most recently in a track record-tying 1:51.1. Ron Burke takes over the conditioning on the daughter of Swan For All - Trading Places for owners Eleven Star Stables of Monroe, In., Frank Baldachino of Harvey Cedars, N.J. and Hillside Stables of Dundee, Oh. Her main rival, Call Me Goo (PP7, Tim Tetrick, 9-2) is also unbeaten this season with a 1:54.2f track record win at Rosecroft and a 1:52.3 Miss Versatility first leg win at The Meadowlands to her credit.
First post time for the stakes-packed Saturday card at Woodbine Mohawk Park is 7:10 p.m. To view the entries for Saturday's card of harness racing, click one of the following links: Woodbine Mohawk Park -- Saturday Entries // Saturday Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).
(Standardbred Canada)