Driver Doug McNair can now admit he was wrong about Crack Shot, Ontario’s biggest hope in the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup on Saturday, June 14 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
“At the start of [last] year, I didn't really like the horse, to be honest with you,” McNair said of the Ontario-sired son of 2001 Cup winner Bettors Delight.
In fact, the driver said he couldn’t understand why his father, Gregg – Crack Shot’s trainer and part-owner – was so high on the horse as a baby after working with the pacer all winter in Florida.
“I didn't know what my dad was talking about,” said Doug. “I qualified [Crack Shot], and I raced him, and I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s an alright horse, but he’s not what you’re thinking.’ He said, ‘I'm telling you, this is a fast, fast horse. He’s as fast a colt as I’ve ever sat behind.’”
To say Doug’s opinion of Crack Shot has changed is an understatement.
“I've loved him since his first start back from a Lexington qualifier [in September of] last year,” said Doug. “He's just done nothing wrong. He's a little machine. He can race on the front, he can race from the middle, he’s raced from the back. He’s just so fast and carries his speed for so long.
“I watch him in the barn a little bit and nothing bothers him. He just lays down all day long. They wake him up to jog him and he eats lots. He’s just easy on himself. I think that's what makes him so handy.”
Gregg said Crack Shot is, “a heck of a nice horse to be around. He doesn’t have that many quirks… When he gets turned, he's all business when you want him to go. Sometimes, he wanted to do it a little too quickly. That's why he had a little trouble getting going as two-year-old. He’d get a little rough-gaited when he was switching gears.”
Crack Shot finished second in his North America Cup elimination last Saturday and now has a tough assignment out of post eight in the final, but Doug said he thinks the horse has as good a shot as any in the 10-horse field, which will go to post in race 11, scheduled to go off at approximately 10:49 p.m. The post for the first race of the 13-race card is 6:35 p.m.
The McNairs – who hail from Walkerton, Ont., but now live in the Guelph area – are one of Ontario’s great harness racing families; yet, neither has won the Pepsi North America Cup.
Gregg has trained six horses that competed in the North America Cup. His best finish was in 1998 with Run To The Bank, who was third. Doug has driven in the Cup five times. His best finish was a fourth with Stay Hungry in 2018. The driver said he’d love to win the race for his father.
“He’s probably going to be put in the Hall of Fame whether he wins this race or not, but I think this would be a feather in his cap,” said Doug. “He's a great trainer. He's won a lot of major races, but this is the one he's looking for. I'm still young. I'm only 35. I'm hoping I’ll be in this race for another, maybe, 15 or 20 years. I’m not saying that winning it wouldn't be a huge thrill for me, but I'd rather win it for my dad than win for anybody else.”
Gregg said he knows how rare it is to have a horse talented enough to even contest the Cup and he doesn’t take this year’s opportunity for granted.
“I haven't raced in too many [North America Cups] lately,” said Gregg. “I haven't had anything that I thought might be a contender for this… It doesn’t come along very often that you have a horse decent enough to put in these kind of races.”
Crack Shot, who has earned $333,049 lifetime and won both the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final and Grassroots Final at two, is owned by Dale Hunter of London, Ont.,, a former NHL legend and the long-time coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) London Knights that just won the Memorial Cup, along with tire magnate Frank Brundle of East Garafraxa, Ont., and George Kerr of Gowanstown, Ont. He was bred by James Avritt Sr. in Kentucky and sold for $205,000 at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale
Brundle said he’s sharing his love of horses with his daughter, Camille Brundle. The pair frequently visit Gregg’s farm to watch the horses together.
“The North America Cup has always been her dream to win,” Frank said of his daughter. “So, I know she's excited for it. I've never gone for this much money in my life. So, it's an exciting thing to do.”
Speaking of families, Crack Shot’s is a dandy.
His sire, Bettors Delight, while not Ontario-sired, is an Ontario legend produced in the province by trainer Scott McEneny for late owner John Grant. Beyond being a North America Cup and Little Brown Jug winner as part of an exceptional racing career, Bettors Delight was even better in the breeding shed. He is the top Standardbred sire in history by earnings by a massive margin. His progeny have earned more than $392 million by Standardbred Canada accounting – $140 million more than the next closest stallion, Camluck, who stood his entire career in Ontario. Of the six Ontario-sired winners of the North America Cup, Bettors Delight – who stood the last 10 years of his stallion career in Ontario – has sired three of them: Betting Line in 2016, Tall Dark Stranger in 2020 and Nijinsky in 2024.
Both Bettors Delight and Grant are enshrined in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
On the maternal side of Crack Shot’s family, his granddam is Precocious Beauty, an Art Major sister to 2010 North America Cup winner Sportswriter, and his dam, Beautyonthebeach, is a Somebeachsomewhere sister to 2020 Cup winner Tall Dark Stranger.
Both Beautyonthebeach and Precocious Beauty were trained by Gregg McNair for breeder Avritt.
Now, father and son are hoping to harness the power of families to produce one of their greatest victories together. At 6-1 in the morning line, Crack Shot is the next best choice after the three elimination winners – Louprint (7-5), Lite Up The World (4-1) and Captain Optimistic (9-2).
Doug said the entire Crack Shot team are lucky to be there not just because it’s so difficult to land a Cup horse, but because making the final was not looking promising turning for home in their elimination.
“I was lucky to actually get through the inside,” said Doug. “I thought I was in a good spot at the half in the last race and then in the last turn, we were probably in the worst spot. There was a hot tempo and all sorts of horses in front and he was three-wide quite a way. So, I really didn't know if we would get through to make the final anyway. So, it was just a bonus to get through to make the final. Of course, you want to draw better, but I think I’ve got such a good horse… Anybody that watched his race last week knows I didn't get room to the last eighth or so or 16th. I did do a lot of work early, too, with him. So, for him to have that much pace left down by the wire was a good feeling for me.
“I’ve got no pressure this week. We’ve got the eight-hole. He's a good horse, but we're not expected to win out of the eight. I think if he gets a different trip last week, I think he wins in [1]:48 change… and then he draws inside from two to six. Then we’ve got a lot of pressure… But, I still think I have one of the best horses in the race.”
It’s a long way from the early days of Crack Shot’s two-year-old season.
“Me and dad used to feud a little bit about it, but not too bad,” said Doug. “I wanted him to geld [Crack Shot], because I just didn't think he was trying very hard. [My dad] didn't want to. He thought there was maybe something bothering him and they figured out what it was. I'm glad he stuck with him.”
Gregg jokes that Doug likely would have lost the drive if former Mohawk driver Mike Saftic had still been driving professionally. It was Saftic that first qualified Crack Shot and told Frank Brundle the pacer had talent.
“Something was pinching [Crack Shot],” said Brundle. “He just wasn't feeling great… Gregg had a vet that he uses down in Kentucky. We shipped him down there and they had the horse for a bit, found the spot, qualified him there and then brought him back here. After that, he was just a champion.
“He just gives it so hard. He races on the front, races off the back. What I love about him now, he's just a small, little giant. He has a heart of gold. You see him race that last 18th of a mile, he just sprints and sticks his head down and just goes. Having a horse like that who is all heart to finish the mile, I love it.”
And now Doug McNair loves Crack Shot, too.
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).
(With files from Ontario Racing)