"Which horse am I scared of? I'm scared of all of them!"
Less than a month ago, pacing colt Tyga Hanover was winless in seven career starts. On Saturday night (June 15) he'll be racing for a million-dollar purse in Canada's premier pacing event, the 2019 Pepsi North America Cup.
After having worked out a pocket trip, Tyga Hanover (PP6, Sylvain Filion, 12-1) held on to finish fourth in his Cup elim to advance to Saturday’s final. He was individually clocked in 1:49.3 in his elim, which was won by Workin Ona Mystery. (Click here to watch/hide the video replay.)
Tyga Hanover, who had overcome broken equipment to win his Somebeachsomewhere division one week earlier, will now take his best shot in the Cup final for trainer Ben Baillargeon and owners Thomas and Elizabeth Rankin (St. Catharines, Ont.) and Glen Rankin (Ottawa, Ont.). The bay tightened through the lower conditions at Mohawk to kick off his three-year-old campaign, but stepped up in his Somebeachsomewhere split to hold off Best In Show, Stag Party and Bronx Seelster in victory. The gelded son of Somebeachsomewhere has now won three of his 11 career starts and has banked $72,000 in purses.
Trainer Ben Baillargeon spoke with TROT Magazine's Rachel Oenema at Tuesday's North America Cup draw, where he was thrilled to have another shot at Canada's premier harness racing event.
The 36th edition of the Pepsi North America Cup will go postward at 10:14 p.m. (EDT) and will be broadcast live on TSN5 from 10-10:30 p.m. The full field for the 2019 Pepsi North America Cup is as follows:
2019 Pepsi North America Cup
(Post – Horse – Driver – Morning Line Odds)
1 – Aflame Hanover – Andrew McCarthy – 20-1
2 – De Los Cielos Deo – David Miller – 9-2
3 – Bettors Wish – Dexter Dunn – 7-2
4 – Workin Ona Mystery – Tim Tetrick – 2-1
5 – Captain Victorious – Yannick Gingras – 15-1
6 – Tyga Hanover – Sylvain Filion – 12-1
7 – Best In Show – Bob McClure – 15-1
8 – Captain Crunch – Scott Zeron – 5-2
9 – Hurrikane Emperor – Dan Dube – 15-1
10 – Stag Party – Brian Sears – 12-1
The winner of the Pepsi North America Cup earns $500,000. This year marks the 19th anniversary of Pepsi’s sponsorship of the race.
The Pepsi North America Cup undercard features the $454,000 Fan Hanover, $330,000 Roses Are Red, $256,000 Armbro Flight, $247,000 Goodtimes and $100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup.
The Cup card wagering menu will feature a $100,000 guaranteed Pick-5, $100,000 All-Stakes Pick-4 and the usual $50,000 Early Pick-4.
Post time for the first of 15 races on the Pepsi North America Cup card is 6:30 p.m. To view entries for Saturday's card, click on one of the following links:
Entries || Program Pages (TrackIT)