A total of 14 three-year-old pacers have been drawn into a pair of $75,000 divisions of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, which will be contested this Saturday (June 1) at Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, Ont.
The Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, formerly the Burlington Stakes, is named in honour of the great pacer. The Somebeachsomewhere Stakes is the Woodbine Entertainment Group's final stakes event leading up to the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup. Eliminations for the 'Cup' will take place at Mohawk on June 8, while the Cup final will be contested June 15.
The Somebeachsomewhere divisions have been carded as Race 3 (post time 8:05 p.m.) and Race 9 (10:05 p.m.) on the 12-dash program which will kick off at 7:25 p.m.
The first division is headlined by Vegas Vacation and Captive Audience, both of which have been given Top 10 status in Trot Magazine's 2013 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book.
Vegas Vacation (Post 2, Scott Zeron) comes into the Somebeachsomewhere off a pair of wins against conditioned company, the latter of which was clocked in 1:49.3 at Woodbine Racetrack. The Casie Coleman-trained son of Bettors Delight is owned by the West Wins Stable, Adriano Sorella, Anthony Beaton and Phyllis Saunders.
Captive Audience (Post 5, Randy Waples), is coming into the Somebeachsomewhere off a pair of second-place finishes in conditioned races on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit. The Colin Johnson-trained son of Art Major closed with wicked speed two starts back and finished second in a three-year-old conditioned event last Saturday at Mohawk. He is owned by Debbie Element and Mac Nichol.
The first division will also feature Sweet Talkin Satin (Post 1, Rick Zeron), Tarpon Hanover (Post 3, Scott Zeron), Evenin Of Pleasure (Post 4, Sylvain Filion), Mach Pride (Post 6, Anthony MacDonald) and Urbanite Hanover (Post 7, TBA).
Among others, the second division will feature Fool Me Once and Odds On Equuleus.
Fool Me Once (Post 1, Sylvain Filion) has kicked off his sophomore season with flying colours. The Mark Austin-trained son of Art Major is perfect after a trio of 2013 starts in the conditioned ranks on the WEG circuit. After having recorded a pair of victories in 1:51 and change, the bay recorded a wrapped-up win in 1:50.4 last Saturday at Mohawk.
Odds On Equuleus (Post 2, John Campbell) has yet to compete in a pari-mutuel event this year, but his three sharp qualifying wins have him on everyone's radar heading into the Somebeachsomewhere. The Robin Schadt-trained Art Major colt has prepped three times at the Meadowlands Racetrack in qualifying action this season, shaving time off his victories with each successive start (1:52.4, 1:51.2, 1:50.3). The bay is owned by Odds On Racing.
The second division will also feature Moonliteonthebeach (Post 3, Randy Waples), Varadero Hanover (Post 4, Jack Moiseyev), Resistance Futile (Post 5, TBA), Sunshine Beach (Post 6, Sylvain Filion) and See And Ski (Post 7, Scott Zeron).
One horse that is noticeably absent from the Somebeachsomewhere is Captaintreacherous, who captured an O'Brien Award as the top juvenile pacing colt in the country in 2012. Myron Bell, racing manager and partner in the Captaintreacherous Stable, has said that the decision to skip the Somebeachsomewhere is due to travel considerations for the colt. Captaintreacherous' trainer, Tony Alagna, is based in New Jersey, and the connections don't want the colt shipping to and back from Mohawk just prior to the Cup elims. "We didn't want to be away in Canada three weeks in a row this early in the year,” Bell has told harnessracing.com.
To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Mohawk, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Mohawk Racetrack.