Contentious N.A. Cup Elims Drawn

2018PepsiNorthAmericaCup-370-------.jpg
Published: June 5, 2018 11:56 am EDT

Twenty-nine of the top three-year-old pacers on the continent will contest the eliminations for the Pepsi North America Cup this Saturday (June 9) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Ten-horse eliminations will head to post for Race 4 and 5, while the third elim, which will feature a field of nine, will head postward for Race 8. First-race post time for the 13-dash card will be at 7:30 p.m.

The top three finishers from each elimination – plus one fourth-place finisher, drawn by lot – will advance to the $1 million final, which will be contested on Saturday, June 16 at the Campbellville, Ont. oval.

O’Brien Award winner Stay Hungry (PP3, Doug McNair) has drawn into the first elimination (approximate post time 8:30 p.m.) for trainer Tony Alagna. The Breeders Crown-winning son of Somebeachsomewhere will head into his elim off of a sharp 1:49.1 qualifying loss at the Meadowlands Racetrack on June 2. The bay colt’s only start this year came on May 19 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, where he finished second by a neck in 1:50.4 during a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes event.

The second elim (8:50 p.m.) looks to be a competitive affair, as a handful of the glamour boys in the dash are heading into the contest off of victories and sharp miles. One of those performers is the Tony Alagna-trained American Ideal colt American History (PP7, Yannick Gingras), who propelled over a lightning-fast Vernon Downs course on May 28 when he won his New York Sire Stakes tilt in 1:49.1. Notable competition in the elimination includes Wes Delight (PP4, Corey Callahan), Burning Midnight (PP5, Trevor Henry) and Dorsoduro Hanover (PP8, Matt Kakaley), among others.

There is star power aplenty in the final elimination (9:50 p.m.), as the Jimmy Takter-trained Lost In Time (PP1, Scott Zeron), the Clyde Francis-conditioned Lather Up (PP2, Montrell Teague), the speedy Blake Macintosh trainee Courtly Choice (PP8, David Miller), and a few others in top form, are all set to do battle in the nine-horse dash. Courtly Choice, by Art Major, had a coming out-party of sorts on May 28 at Vernon Downs, when the bay ridgling launched to a scintillating 1:48.4 victory in the NYSS after a bobble off the gate.

Some of the colts and geldings that will be participating in the Cup elims prepped this past weekend in the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes at Mohawk. For a complete recap of the Somebeachsomewhere, click here.

To access a free, printable program for Woodbine Mohawk Park’s Saturday card of racing, courtesy of TrackIT, click here.

To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Woodbine Mohawk Park, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Tags
Have something to say about this? Log in or create an account to post a comment.