The connections of 22 three-year-old male pacers have entered their charges to contest the eliminations for Mohawk Racetrack’s $1-million Pepsi North America Cup. The elims, which are now set, will take place this Saturday (June 7) at the Campbellville, Ont. oval, followed by the million-dollar final on Saturday, June 14.
The Mohawk Racetrack race office has drawn three $50,000 ‘Cup’ eliminations. A pair of seven-horse elims and one eight-horse elimination will be contested. The top three finishers from each elim – plus one fourth-place finisher, drawn by lot – will advance to the final.
The eliminations have been carded as Race 3 (post time 8:05 p.m.), Race 5 (8:45 p.m.) and Race 9 (10:05 p.m.) on Mohawk’s 13-dash Saturday program. First-race post time on Saturday is 7:25 p.m.
JK Endofanera, who has been pegged at odds of 15-1 in Trot Magazine’s 2014 North America Cup Spring Book, has drawn Post 1 in the first elimination. Brian Sears has been listed to drive. The Ron Burke-trained son of Art Major appeared to take to the Mohawk’s oval quite well last week in the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, as the bay colt paced to a one-length victory in 1:50, pushing his bankroll to $451,057 in the process. The 2013 Governor’s Cup winner is now a perfect three-for-three so far this season. JK Endofanera has won seven of his 10 career starts and has never finished worse than second.
Western Vintage (14-1 in Spring Book) has drawn Post 3 in the first elim and Yannick Gingras has been listed to drive. The Nancy Johansson-trained son of Western Ideal has already taken a sub-1:50 mark this year at the Meadowlands Racetrack and is coming into Saturday’s test off a second-place finish to Doo Wop Hanover at the Big M. The bay colt has won six of 10 lifetime starts and has banked $376,625 in purses.
Always B Miki (65-1 in Spring Book) will start from Post 7 in the second elimination. Corey Callahan has been listed to drive. A colt by Always A Virgin, Always B Miki heads into the Cup eliminations off a 1:50 win in his Somebeachsomewhere division for trainer Joe Holloway. The bay flew under the radar last year at age two, but paced a big mile last month at the Meadowlands Racetrack when he came up just a nose short in a 1:48.4 mile.
Lets Drink On It (30-1 in Spring Book) has drawn Post 4 in the second elim and Tyler Smith has been listed to drive. The son of Art Official was handed the first loss of his 2013 campaign in the Somebeachsomewhere, as he finished second to Hes Watching. The bay colt lowered his mark to 1:49 in May courtesy of an open-length win at Pocono Downs. The Joe Seekman trainee has won two of his three races this year and seven of his 15 lifetime starts, good for $232,232 in purse earnings.
Hes Watching (Trot’s 5-1 Spring Book favourite) will contest the third elimination and will start from Post 1. Jody Jamieson has been listed to drive. Hes Watching rebounded from a sub-par effort in his Art Rooney elimination by pacing to a dominant 1:49.3 win in his division of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes. The David Menary-trained colt was a wire-to-wire winner from Post 5 last week and used a three and three-quarter-length margin of victory to get the job done. The Dan Patch Award winner dominated the New York Sire Stakes circuit last season and will be making his third pari-mutuel start of the season on Saturday. He has won nine of his 10 career races and has banked $329,222 in purses to this point.
Luck Be Withyou (8-1 in Spring Book) will start from Post 2 in the third elim. Ron Pierce has been listed to drive. The 2013 Breeders Crown winner is heading into his Cup elimination off a second-place finish to JK Endofanera in the Somebeachsomewhere last weekend. The Bill Cass-trained Western Ideal colt has won five of his 12 career starts and will be looking to add to his $382,152 in career earnings on Saturday.
To view Trot Magazine’s 2014 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book, click here.
Race 3 - Pepsi North America Cup XXXI - Elimination 1 - Purse: $50,000
1. JK Endofanera - B. Sears - R. Burke
2. Beat The Drum - Br. Miller - S. Lind
3. Western Vintage - Y. Gingras - N. Johansson
4. Limelight Beach - Da. Miller - B. Brown
5. Unlocked - S. Zeron - E. Miller
6. Lyonssomewhere - C. Callahan - J. Takter
7. Surprise Hanover - J. Moiseyev - J. Dean
Race 5 - Pepsi North America Cup XXXI - Elimination 2 - Purse: $50,000
1. McWicked - Da. Miller - C. Coleman
2. Sometimes Said - Jo. Campbell - Ji. Campbell
3. Ideal Cowboy - T. Tetrick - P.J. Fraley
4. Lets Drink On It - Ty. Smith - J. Seekman
5. Somestarsomewhere - Y. Gingras - R. Burke
6. Melmerby Beach - P. MacDonell - B. MacGrath
7. Always B Miki - C. Callahan - J. Holloway
8. Capital Account - Y. Gingras - J. Takter
Race 9 - Pepsi North America Cup XXXI - Elimination 3 - Purse: $50,000
1. Hes Watching - J. Jamieson - D. Menary
2. Luck Be Withyou - R. Pierce - W. Cass
3. Tellitlikeitis - Br. Miller - J. Takter
4. Jet Airway - S. Zeron - E. Miller
5. Silverhill Shadow - J. Jamieson - I. Moore
6. Doo Wop Hanover - Jo. Campbell - S. Elliott
7. Boomboom Ballykeel - S. Filion - R. Moreau
To view the entries for Saturday night, click here.
For a free, printable program page of Mohawk’s Saturday card (courtesy of TrackIT), click here.