"You've got good horses in there, racing for a million dollars. There's no taking back. You'll see stuff going on you wouldn't normally see."
Lather Up, an Ohio-sired son of Im Gorgeous, was the fastest 2018 Pepsi North America Cup elimination winner, as he shot up the inside to win his elim by nearly three lengths in 1:49.2 for trainer Clyde Francis and driver Montrell Teague.
A homebred for owners Gary & Barbara Iles, Lather Up is undefeated in five starts this season and currently holds a record of nine wins and 11 top-three finishes from 12 career starts. The bay colt holds a pair of track records in the state of Ohio and enters the Pepsi North America Cup with $167,100 in career earnings.
Team Teague will be looking for redemption in this Saturday’s $1 million race after they finished second with superstar Wiggle It Jiggleit as the betting favourite in the 2015 Cup. Teague recommended Post 4 to his connections as the third elim winner to select a starting spot for Saturday's stakes final.
"He wanted to be in a position where he could see who was leaving a little bit better in the middle of the pack than what you could down on the inside," Francis told Trot Insider at Tuesday's draw. "You've got a bunch of good colts in there. They'll be competitive."
Francis discusses his colt's performance from this past Saturday and the week ahead in this video feature.
The 35th edition of Canada’s richest harness race, showcasing the finest three-year-old pacers on the continent, will head postward at 10:40 p.m. (EDT) and will be broadcast live on TSN2 from 10:00 – 11:00 p.m. (EDT). The winner of the Pepsi North America Cup earns $500,000. This year’s edition marks the 18th anniversary of Pepsi’s sponsorship of the race.
2018 Pepsi North America Cup
(Post – Horse – Driver - Odds)
1 – St Lads Neptune – Jody Jamieson - 8/1
2 – Stay Hungry – Doug McNair - 5/2
3 – Wes Delight – Corey Callahan - 9/2
4 – Lather Up – Montrell Teague - 2/1
5 – American History – Yannick Gingras - 10/1
6 – Lost In Time – Scott Zeron - 12/1
7 – Done Well – Tim Tetrick - 4/1
8 – Nutcracker Sweet – David Miller - 15/1
9 – Hayden Hanover – Andy Miller - 20/1
10 – Hitman Hill – Brett Miller - 20/1
The Cup night card will offer three Pick-4 wagers, including an All Stakes Pick-4 with a $100,000 guaranteed pool, comprising of Races 9 through 12. There will also be a mandatory payout on the Jackpot Hi-5.
The North America Cup undercard features some of harness racing's premier competitors in the $415,000 Fan Hanover for three-year-old pacing fillies, $370,000 Roses Are Red for pacing mares, $250,000 Armbro Flight for trotting mares, $266,000 Goodtimes for three-year-old trotters and the $100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup Invitational for pacers.
Post time for the first of 15 races on the Pepsi North America Cup card is 6:30 p.m.
To view the entries for Saturday at Mohawk, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Woodbine Mohawk Park.