It's good to have options, but sometimes those options lead to difficult decisions.
Two years ago, driver James MacDonald faced a difficult decision heading into the 2023 Pepsi North America Cup qualifying a pair of finalists: Moment Is Here and Redwood Hanover. Both horses finished third in their respective eliminations, both horses were timed in 1:49.
MacDonald opted for the Anthony Beaton-trained Redwood Hanover over the Bob McIntosh-campaigned Moment Is Here. Beaton acknowledged on Cup Draw Day in 2023 how much that decision meant to him, stating that "it gives you a little more confidence that your driver has confidence in your horse."
While Beaton and MacDonald didn't have any racing luck in 2023, that duo returned in 2024 with a much stronger Cup contender by the name of Legendary Hanover. Starting from post eight — the same starting spot as Redwood Hanover — Legendary Hanover finished fifth placed fourth. Beaton had a better outcome with his other entry, Nijinsky, who prevailed in the million-dollar dash for driver Louis-Philippe Roy.
In 2025, Beaton seeks a North America Cup repeat and his chips are all in with the lightly-raced Lite Up The World — the fastest elim winner this year with an eye-opening 1:48.3 effort on Saturday, June 7 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. For the third straight year, Beaton will have the services of James MacDonald: Canadian harness racing's top driver, still in search of his first North America Cup victory.
"Tony and I had such a great year together last year," MacDonald mentioned to Jeff Porchak in an interview with Standardbred Canada after the post position draw for the 2025 Pepsi North America Cup. "I'll never forget...I went to the Nijinsky party at his barn where they had a barbecue, and everyone was happy and I was the only guy there who was just kind of meh. Tony took me aside and he said, 'soon we're going to be having a Legendary Hanover party' and it didn't take long to wait because he won The Meadowlands Pace a couple weeks later."
Lite Up The World sports a record reading 5-2-0 from eight starts for owners Mac & Carol Nichol of Burlington, Ont., , including a 2-1-0 summary in four 2024 starts. He's the 4-1 second choice on the morning line this Saturday.
"He's two fingers [to drive]. He'll settle on the lead, and then just snap [if] he's covered up when you ask him. Obviously off a helmet, he showed what he can do too, so he's pretty versatile. I'm just going to have to see how the race looks like it's going to unfold and make a decision from there, but it's a great quality to have. Last year, having Legendary Hanover in the final, Legendary kind of did what he wanted a lot of the times, and I had to be okay with it or manage it, and this year I have a full deck of cards.
"I know Tony's got faith in me and I have faith in Tony and I have a ton of faith in the horse," continued MacDonald. "If the trip just sets up, you've got a field of 10 great horses, you need everything to go right. In my opinion, it's a race where there's a ton of different horses that could potentially win it. That just means I've got to do my job and I know if I do my job, I know the horse and Tony are going to do their job and you could see us in front of the grandstand in the winner's circle after."
MacDonald will look to head into that million-dollar main event on Saturday in the afterglow of just leaving the winner's circle after the 10th race — the highly-anticipated showdown between divisional champions Chantilly and Miki And Minnie in the $390,000 Fan Hanover (Grade 1).
After months of deliberation, the decision made by the connections of Chantilly to race the 2024 Canadian Horse of the Year against the girls instead of the boys in the N.A. Cup definitely made MacDonald's job easier in terms of that potential driving decision like he faced in 2023.
"I think it was across the board — we were all in agreement — we wanted to do first and foremost what was best for the horse," stated MacDonald. "That's the great thing about driving for Nick [trainer Gallucci] and George [owner Millar] is they always put the horse first, and like Tony, they're great to drive for, but George — I think — he really wanted to do something special and make a splash and I really think if you're ever going to do it, she's probably the horse to do it. She's unbelievable, she's just a dream to drive and it's been a fun ride with her."
Undefeated in 12 starts (including three this year), Chantilly has earned $915,256 for owner/breeder Millar Farms of Stouffville, Ont. The Nick Gallucci trainee drew post three in Saturday's Fan Hanover finale, and gets even money favouritism on the morning line over second choice Miki And Minnie (PP5, Dexter Dunn, 6-5).
"My stance on it was I just don't want to end up in a bad spot, drive her hard and have it maybe cost her some money against the girls down the road...and in no way, shape, or form is a knock against the competition she's racing against Saturday night because she might not even be the favourite. Miki And Minnie is an unbelievable filly and it's a group of super talented horses, so my thought process was let's do what's best for the horse but at the end of the day I'm driving her wherever she's entered so I try to leave it up to them as much as possible."
For SC's full interview with MacDonald, discussing the elim performances for both of these horses and how much he's looking forward to playing a major role on arguably Canadian harness racing's biggest stage, click the play button below.
To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click one of the following links: Pepsi North America Cup Night -- Saturday Entries || North America Cup Card Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).
(Standardbred Canada)