"You know, Brian Brown said it quite well when he was on the podium here that he hopes everybody has a good, safe race and hopefully we don't cause an issue in that regard. And all the best of luck to everybody: all the drivers and trainers and owners in the race Saturday."
Trainer and co-owner Dr. Ian Moore discussed 2017 Pepsi North America Cup starter Classic Pro with Trot Insider at the post draw on Tuesday, June 13. The $1 million final will be contested on Saturday, June 17 at Mohawk Racetrack.
Following a stressful week leading up the Cup eliminations for both horse and horseman, Classic Pro finished second in the fastest of three eliminations won by morning line favourite Huntsville in 1:49.1. The colt drew post position six for the final and will be driven by Trevor Henry for Moore and his partners, R G McGroup Ltd.'s Ron and Gail McLellan of Bathurst, N.B., and Serge Savard of St-Bruno, Que. -- the same connections that campaigned the colt's sire Shadow Play.
"We've had horses for quite some time together as a group and we haven't had a lot of luck with bigger time horses in the last couple of years so hopefully this guy will help in that regard maybe starting this weekend," said Moore.
Classic Pro is Moore's fifth North America Cup starter. His best placing in the race came in his most recent appearance, a fifth-place finish with 2012 N.A. Cup starter State Treasurer.
The post positions for the 2017 North America Cup Final appear below.
$1 MILLION PEPSI NORTH AMERICA CUP
(Post – Horse – Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds)
1 – Ocean Colony – Yannick Gingras – Jimmy Takter – 10-1
2 – Downbytheseaside – Brian Sears – Brian Brown – 3-1
3 – Huntsville – Tim Tetrick – Ray Schnittker – 8-5
4 – Fear The Dragon – David Miller – Brian Brown – 2-1
5 – Sports Column – Chris Christoforou – Blake MacIntosh – 25-1
6 – Classic Pro – Trevor Henry – Dr. Ian Moore – 20-1
7 – Ozone Blue Chip – Brett Miller – Ron Coyne Jr. – 25-1
8 – Filibuster Hanover – Louis-Philippe Roy – Ron Burke – 15-1
9 – Western Hill – Doug McNair – Tony Alagna – 20-1
10 – Miso Fast – Matt Kakaley – Ron Burke – 20-1
To view the entries for Saturday's card at Mohawk or a free program, courtesy of TrackIT, click on one of the following links: Saturday Entries / Saturday Program Pages.
The Pepsi North America Cup headlines Mohawk’s mega-stakes Saturday card of harness racing that will also feature a $75,000 Cup Consolation, the $440,000 Fan Hanover Stakes (for three-year-old pacing fillies), $365,000 Roses Are Red Stakes (pacing mares), $253,000 Armbro Flight Stakes (trotting mares), $251,000 Goodtimes Stakes (three-year-old trotting colts), and $100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup (invitational pacers).
First race post time is 6:30 p.m. The 34th edition of the Pepsi North America Cup will go postward at 10:40 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast live on TSN3 and TSN5 from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.