The $1 million Pepsi North America Cup, a showdown featuring the continent’s finest drivers and three-year-old pacers, is the ultimate test in performing under pressure.
Few have lived the chase for the seven-figure fixture, and Standardbred immortality, like Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Famer Doug Brown.
“If you ask somebody what it's like driving in a big race and they tell you it's just another race, they're full of it,” laughed Brown, who appeared in 14 North America Cups (fourth-most all-time) over his illustrious career. “You're [going for a] a million bucks, it's not just another race. Just like these guys playing in the Stanley Cup, it's a lot more pressure than playing a regular season game. This is no different.”
Ahead of the top-flight tilt’s 42nd renewal on Saturday, June 14 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, the man with more than 8,500 driving wins and $90 million in purse earnings on his sterling resume shared his perspective on the sport’s biggest stage.
Brown contested his first North America Cup in 1985 – three years after his triumphant professional debut as a 17-year-old at Kawartha – finishing seventh with Shawnee Almahurst.
The Oshawa, Ont. native returned the following year, landing in eighth, before coming back in 1987 to compete for his great friend and longtime racing partner, Stew Firlotte.
“I drove my first horse for Stew at Kawartha,” said Brown, who also recorded his 8,000th victory at the Fraserville, Ont. oval in October 2004. “His driver didn't show up, so he asked me if I'd drive. I said sure, and we were racing partners for 35 years. It was awesome – we were best friends. He and his wife, Joanne, were godparents to one of our kids.
“That N.A. Cup [1987] I drove a little Ontario-bred called Rare Review. Back then, the Ontario-breds just couldn't compete with the American-breds, and he ended up finishing third in the final.”
Brown drew back in for the ’89 edition, having driven three in the elimination stage – all of which made the final.
The choice was his.
“I picked Raque Bogart and he finished third. One of the horses I drove in the elims, Goalie Jeff, ended up winning, so I made a boo-boo there,” he joked.
The closest Brown came to Cup glory was in 1990, when he finished a head behind Apaches Fame with bay colt Mark Johnathan.
While Brown’s trophy case doesn’t include an North America Cup, it’s packed to the brim with other major accolades.
The revered reinsman has a record seven O'Brien Award trophies as Canada's Driver of the Year. He collected five Breeders Crown titles, including back-to-back championships with Hall of Fame mare Town Pro in 1989 and 1990, the 1993 Metro Pace with Historic, the 2001 Maple Leaf Trotting Classic with Plesac and the 1997 World Trotting Derby with Lord Stormont, amongst more.
Several of Brown’s titles overlapped with his North America Cup appearances, which offered invaluable insights one year to the next.
“You have to rely on instinct. If you have a plan, it usually changes as soon as the gate leaves,” he explained. “You can go over the race so many times, check out the other horses, predict how the other drivers are going to race them, but it only takes one guy to change his mind and the complexity of the race.”
Brown’s advice for navigating the uncertainty?
“Do what you think is best right off the gate, adapt the best you can and hopefully everything will fall into place.”
Kawartha Downs will be hosting a North America Cup Watch Party on Saturday, June 14 alongside a night of live harness racing at the track that includes free giveaways, prize draws and a special Yuk Yuk’s Father’s Day Comedy Show & Dinner.
First race post time is 6 p.m. at Kawartha and 6:35 p.m. at Mohawk, with the North America Cup heading to post at approximately 10:49 p.m.
(With files from Kawartha Downs)