Hurricane Beach and Macs Jackpot, both sons of Somebeachsomewhere, were victorious in a pair of $70,000 stakes divisions named for their sire on Saturday night (June 3) at Mohawk Racetrack.
The lightly raced Hurricane Beach turned in a commanding 1:50.3 victory to win the first of two $70,000 Somebeachsomewhere Stakes divisions, giving rising star Louis-Philippe Roy his first Grand Circuit stakes win on the WEG Circuit.
Roy sent the Luc Blais trainee to the top from post nine before the first turn and hit the opening mark in :26.3 before taking a second quarter breather to the half in :55. The Somebeachsomewhere-Blazing Yankee gelding widened his lead on the way to three-quarters in 1:22.1 and ended with a four-length lead at the wire and a new lifetime mark. Lawrencetown Beach (Paul MacDonell) advanced first-over from fourth to secure the runner-up honours ahead of pocket-pursuer Sports Column (Chris Christoforou).
Hurricane Beach paid $14.40 to win. He notched his second career win from six starts and boosted his bankroll to $47,180 for owner Determination of Montreal, Que.
Jeffrey Snyder's homebred Macs Jackpot pulled off a 42-1 upset with a late-closing 1:51.4 victory in the second division for driver David Miller and trainer Jim Campbell.
After a handful of colts jockeyed for early position up front, Richard Hill (Doug McNair) cleared Frontier Seelster (Jody Jamieson) for the leading role past the :26.3 quarter mark. Richard Hill then carved out middle splits of :54.3 and 1:22.1 while the outer flow developed, but it was Frontier Seelster who went head-to-head with him turning for home. Down the stretch, the backfield began to kick into action with horses fanning across the track, including Macs Jackpot. That longshot closed four-wide from eighth-place and got up in the nick of time to score the career-best equalling victory outside of Stealth Bomber (Brett Miller), who finished second, with Richard Hill holding on for third a neck back.
Macs Jackpot returned a whopping $86.30 for a $2 Win ticket.
The Somebeachsomewhere-Michelles Jackpot gelding, who is now two-for-six on the year, has won six of his 20 starts lifetime while earning $169,031.
The Somebeachsomewhere Stakes is the last local prep for the Pepsi North America Cup with eliminations for the $1 million event coming up next Saturday, June 10 followed by the final on June 17. Sixteen of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes starters are eligible to the Cup.
For recaps of tonight's Graduate Series divisions, click here.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.
For the official judges' report from Saturday's card, click the following link: Judges' Report - Mohawk - June 3.