The Pepsi North America Cup card on Aug. 29 will once again include the Fan Hanover, Armbro Flight and Roses Are Red.
The Fan Hanover for three-year-old pacing fillies has attracted 16 entrants, split into a pair of $35,000 eliminations on Saturday (Aug. 22).
The undefeated Party Girl Hill makes her Mohawk Park debut in the second Fan Hanover elimination. The Chris Ryder trainee joins the stable of Chantal Mitchell in search of her seventh win in as many starts.
Fresh off a 1:49 victory in a Pennsylvania Sires Stakes (PASS) split, Party Girl Hill will square off with seven rivals that includes star Indiana filly Priceless and Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold winners Karma Seelster and Lauras Love.
The first Fan Hanover elimination features last year’s O’Brien Award winner Alicorn. The Mitchell trainee is looking to get back in the winner’s circle after back-to-back fourth-place finishes in OSS competition.
Linda Toscano trainee Rocknificent is the current standout of the group. She’s won three of six starts this season and has never finished outside the top-three. The Toscano trainees wins came in a pair of PASS events and the Geers Stakes.
The fields for the Fan Hanover eliminations appear below:
ELIMINATION #1 – RACE 2
PP-Name (Driver/Trainer)
1 – Rocknificent (Bob McClure/Linda Toscano)
2 – Rose Run Victoria (Robert Shepherd/Rod Boyd)
3 – Beach Sports (Doug McNair/Gregg McNair)
4 – Perfect Storm (Trevor Henry/Bob McIntosh)
5 – Betalady (Chris Christoforou/Susie Kerwood)
6 – Nectar (Louis-Philippe Roy/Stephen Charlton)
7 – Alicorn (Louis-Philippe Roy/Chantal Mitchell)
8 – Peaky Sneaky (Yannick Gingras/Nancy Takter)
ELIMINATION #2 – RACE 3
PP-Name (Driver/Trainer)
1 – All Day Sunshine (Louis-Philippe Roy/Dan Lagace)
2 – Party Girl Hill (Doug McNair/Chantal Mitchell)
3 – Priceless (Yannick Gingras/Brandon Bates)
4 – Karma Seelster (Doug McNair/Gregg McNair)
5 – Rose Run Vantage (Sylvain Filion/Anthony Beaton)
6 – Off The Press (Robert Shepherd/Rod Boyd)
7 – Lauras Love (Bob McClure/John Pentland)
8 – Lady Lou (Doug McNair/Tony Alagna)
The Fan Hanover eliminations have been carded as Races 2 and 3. The final will go for a purse of $400,000.
NO ELIMINATIONS FOR ARMBRO FLIGHT AND ROSES ARE RED
This year’s Armbro Flight for older trotting mares and Roses Are Red for older pacing mares did not require eliminations, as all horses entered go directly to their respective finals on the Pepsi North America Cup undercard.
Superstar Atlanta will return to defend her Armbro Flight crown, taking on seven rivals. The Ron Burke trainee won last year’s final in a Track, Stakes and Canadian Record time of 1:50.2.
Facing Atlanta are a pair of Ake Svanstedt trainees, Plunge Blue Chip and Felicityshagwell S. The two enter off a one-two finish in the $133,000 Joie De Vie Trot at Tioga Downs on Aug. 16, besting Manchego in a 1:51.3 mile.
Trainer Jeff Gillis will try Hey Livvy against Grand Circuit competition in the Armbro Flight following her ascension to the top of the condition sheet at Mohawk Park. The mare last tried stakes company when the Breeders Crown came to Mohawk Park last year, finishing seventh in her elimination.
The field for the $220,000 Armbro Flight is listed below in alphabetical order:
Atlanta
Felicityshagwell S
Hey Livvy
Lefkada
Only Take Cash
Plunge Blue Chip
Pure Chance
Superlative
The Roses Are Red will see a competitive group of nine older pacing mares clash.
Absent from the final is Shartin N, last racing in the $129,000 Artiscape on Aug. 16 which she won in 1:48.4. Kissin In The Sand and Seaswift Joy N are the only returnees from last year’s final. This year’s field of nine includes five four-year-olds (Philly Hanover, So Much More, Stonebridge Soul, Trillions Hanover and Warrawee Ubeaut).
The field for the $290,000 Roses Are Red is listed below in alphabetical order:
Kissin In The Sand
Major Occasion A
Philly Hanover
Seaswift Joy N
So Much More
Soho Burning Love A
Stonebridge Soul
Trillions Hanover
Warrawee Ubeaut
PEPSI NORTH AMERICA CUP CLOSED TO GENERAL PUBLIC
Woodbine Entertainment announced Tuesday that this year’s Pepsi North America Cup will not be open to the general public. The event will be invite-only. For full details, click here.
(with files from Woodbine Mohawk Park)
To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Saturday Entries - Woodbine Mohawk Park.