The connections of 25 three-year-old pacers have entered their charges to contest the $50,000 Pepsi North America Cup eliminations, which will be the focal point of this Saturday evening’s (June 10) live program at Mohawk Racetrack.
Saturday’s NA Cup elims have been carded as Race 3 (8:10 p.m.), Race 8 (9:50 p.m.) and Race 9 (10:10 p.m.). The entry total of 25 is the largest number of entries received for the Pepsi North America Cup since 2010 (30). Mohawk’s Saturday card will kick off with a first-race post time of 7:30 p.m.
The top three finishers from each of Saturday’s elims – plus one fourth-place finisher, drawn by lot – will advance to the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup final, which will be contested on Saturday, June 17 at Mohawk, located in Campbellville, Ont.
Many of the colts and gelding that have been entered to contest the NA Cup elims prepped over Mohawk last weekend in the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes. For a complete recap of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, which includes race replays, click here.
The first of the NA Cup elims will feature the horse that many consider the favourite to capture the ‘Cup’ – the Somebeachsomewhere colt Downbytheseaside (PP4, David Miller), who is heading into the elims as a force to be reckoned with. Trained by Brian Brown and driven by David Miller, the accomplished bay has won 11 of his 16 career starts and has always hit the board (including three show and two place finishes). The career winner of more than $833,000 in purses has come out of the gate in fantastic form this year, as he is a perfect three for three and is fresh off of a sweep of the Art Rooney Pace at Yonkers Raceway, which took place late last month. Downbytheseaside is owned by Country Club Acres Inc. (Findlay, OH), Joe Sbrocco, (Brecksville, OH), Richard Lombardo (Solon, OH) and Diamond Creek Racing (Wellsville, PA).
The second elim will be headlined by another top colt that many believe has what it takes to win it all – the Ray Schnittker-trained and Tim Tetrick-driven Somebeachsomewhere colt Huntsville (PP2, Tim Tetrick). Huntsville is heading into the NA Cup eliminations in fine form. The winner of nine of 14 career starts last went postward on June 1 at Harrah’s Philadelphia during Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action. With Tetrick at the helm, the duo left from Post 7, whacked out all the speed (:26.3, :54.2 and 1:21.4) and capped off the performance with a :27.1 final frame. The win time was 1:49 and the margin of victory was more than seven lengths. Schnittker (of Middletown, NY) and Charles Iannazzo (Tappan, NY) bred the colt, and the duo co-owns along with Ted Gewertz (New York, NY) and Steven Arnold (Purchase, NY). Huntsville has won two of his three starts thus far this season.
On paper, the third elim looks like it could be a real dogfight, as Macs Jackpot, Hurricane Beach and Fear The Dragon are all slated to mix it up.
The Jim Campbell-trained and David Miller-driven Macs Jackpot (PP1, David Miller) stepped up and showed that he was an NA Cup contender last week in the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes. The gelding shrugged off his Post 9 start, raced hard from the back of the pack through solid fractions, and closed hard in the lane to get up for a neck victory in 1:51.4. The bay son of Somebeachsomewhere is a homebred of his New York, NY-based owner, Jeffrey Snyder.
After having been lightly raced at two, and having worked his way up through the conditioned ranks this season, the Luc Blais-trained Hurricane Beach (PP2, Louis-Philippe Roy) was strong last weekend in his division of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes. Driver Louis-Philippe Roy sent the gelded bay to the lead from Post 9, and the son of Somebeachsomewhere cut all the fractions en-route to a four-length, 1:50.3 victory. Hurricane Beach, who was a $230,000 purchase, is owned by the Determination stable of Montreal, Que.
It’s safe to say that Dragon Again colt Fear The Dragon (PP7, David Miller) will have some of his rivals looking over their shoulders on Saturday, as the fleet-footed bay has won nine of his 15 career starts and has never missed the board. Trained by Brian Brown and driven by David Miller, Fear The Dragon has not lost a race since last October. He has been a perfect four for four thus far in 2017, and the last three of his wins have come against Pennsylvania Sire Stakes competition. Fear The Dragon, who is owned by Emerald Highlands Farm (Mount Vernon, OH), looks to be in fine form heading into the NA Cup elims, as he has posted back to back 1:49.1 wins.
For free, printable program pages for Mohawk’s Saturday card, courtesy of TrackIT, click here.
To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Mohawk, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Mohawk Racetrack.
Elimination 1 (Race 3)
(Post – Horse – Driver – Trainer)
1. Lawrencetown Beach (Paul MacDonell – Paul MacDonell)
2. Ideal Wheel (Louis Philippe Roy – Casie Coleman)
3. Western Hill (Doug McNair – Tony Alagna)
4. Downbytheseaside (David Miller – Brian Brown)
5. Some Attitude (Tim Tetrick – Bob McIntosh)
6. Eddard Hanover (Matt Kakaley – Ron Burke)
7. Sports Column (Chris Christoforou – Blake MacIntosh)
8. Stealth Bomber (Brett Miller – Tony O’Sullivan)
Elimination 2 (Race 8)
(Post – Horse – Driver – Trainer)
1. Arsenal Seelster (Jonathan Drury – Colin Johnson)
2. Huntsville (Tim Tetrick – Ray Schnittker)
3. Beckhams Z Tam (Ricky Macomber Jr. – Jamie Macomber)
4. Classic Pro (Trevor Henry – Dr. Ian Moore)
5. Ozone Blue Chip (Brett Miller – Ron Coyne)
6. Normandy Beach (Yannick Gingras – Ron Burke)
7. Beyond Delight (Sylvain Filion – Tony O’Sullivan)
8. Miso Fast (Matt Kakaley – Ron Burke)
9. Richard Hill (Doug McNair – Richard Moreau)
Elimination 3 (Race 9)
(Post – Horse – Driver – Trainer)
1. Macs Jackpot (Tim Tetrick – Jim Campbell)
2. Hurricane Beach (Louis Philippe Roy – Luc Blais)
3. Filibuster Hanover (Matt Kakaley – Ron Burke)
4. McMach (Paul MacDonell – Bob McIntosh)
5. Darlings Dragon (Donald Dupont – Marie Dupont)
6. Ocean Colony (Yannick Gingras – Jimmy Takter)
7. Fear The Dragon (David Miller – Brian Brown)
8. Streakavana (Sylvain Filion – Scott McEneny)