By Ray Cotolo
Woodbine Mohawk Park hosts Canada’s signature classic, the $1,000,000 Pepsi North America Cup, this Saturday (June 15). Established in 1984 and becoming a million-dollar race in 1987, the North America Cup sits in a critical spot on the harness racing stakes calendar as the first major stakes test for the sophomore pacing males; the glamour boy division.
As an early staple on the Grand Circuit, the North America Cup has proved a tricky race for the elite equines of Standardbred racing to clench. Just last year, the decisive horse of the year Confederate failed to grasp the “Cup” when a stride too late to Scott Zeron’s crafty steering of It’s My Show. The year before that, Desperate Man pulled a local surprise and foiled a horse named Bulldog Hanover, who subsequently became the fastest horse the sport has ever seen. Going through the list of winners in the modern era compounds the enigmatic nature of this race, from Wakizashi Hanover’s pocket pop to usurp Wiggle It Jiggleit in 2015 to JK Endofanera’s swoop of an upset the year before. All of this helps to make the North America Cup a good, but tough, betting race.
This year’s edition holds no punches either. Nearly every horse that landed a spot on the starting gate enters this race with a shot at the big prize. But often times, races of this depth muddles how the money will flow through the pools and to who the money will flow through the pools.
Some hometown heroes figure to take a share of play – elimination winners Captains Quarters and Funtime Bayama. Captains Quarters – the morning-line favorite – went a sensational 1:49.3 mile to win the Metro Pace, the biggest race for pacing 2-year-olds in North America. From the stable of Mohawk mainstay Herb Holland, he won his elimination mostly under wraps from a covered trip and going away in that 1:49.1 mile, so he possibly has a deeper engine yet to reach full throttle.
Funtime Bayama is the Filion family affair, a homebred from their Bayama Farms Inc. The gelding by speed freak Hes Watching has flexed a similar electricity in his agility and willingness to race. Plus, he downed one of the winterbook favorites for this race, Legendary Hanover, in the final strides of his elimination to win. More than likely, these horses are at risk of being underlaid on the circumstances of facing a stacked group of competitors. But those with faith could be rewarded with slightly inflated odds on otherwise chalks if the money is well spread as appears possible.
Trainer Tony Beaton has a pair of finalists, but not necessarily of equal interest. Fervor has enveloped Nijinsky, a horse who entered this season with just a single win to his name from 10 starts. In his sophomore campaign, Nijinsky has yet to lose from four starts and has made himself look like a pure slingshot. No matter where driver Louis Roy places him, the horse naturally wants to sprint by every rival. This alone has enamored many ahead of the race, including ITM’s own Mike Pribozie, but does pose a question of what kind of price he’ll offer. He’s undefeated this year, he has some of the fastest final quarters on the page… will he really be tossed aside to the other elimination winners?
On the far outside sits Beaton’s more interesting finalist, the aforementioned Legendary Hanover. Last season, Legendary Hanover entered the Metro Pace as the favorite but had the tactical disadvantage to Captains Quarters speed, resulting in a second-place effort from a relentless off-the-pace push. Legendary Hanover then came into 2024 looking freaky with back-to-back miles in under 1:50, but those are his only wins so far this season. In the Somebeachsomewhere, he again raced to the tactical disadvantage of strong speed and rallied for second behind Funtime Bayama, but in closing paced a wicked-fast back half of :52.2. He did not exert that sort of speed when trying to last on the lead of his North America Cup elimination, but that sort of late kick still seems present inside of this guy. Maybe he is lost in the betting shuffle, forgotten in the simple shadow of who beat him.
To prove the extended talent present in this race, we have yet – in 700 words – to talk about Captain Albano. The Noel Daley pupil did not miss the board from nine starts as a 2-year-old but failed to tie the bow on the campaign with a Breeders Crown win – he instead finished second as the 2-5 favorite. He’s another in this race that has a wicked turn of foot, but he may have to use it just right; he can’t simply go faster than everyone in an already fast race. But he may get lost in the shuffle of the betting.
And that ultimately is the point – this is an active betting race, not one you’d simply bet hours before and then check back on later. Thousands and thousands of dollars will be making moves on various horses under ultimately nothing empirical, but just simple feelings of the heart. So gauging who definitively will offer the best price in the race is practically impossible. Instead, not only will this be one of the best renewals of the North America Cup of the past decade, but its also a must-watch on the board. Some really nice horses are going to get lost in the betting, and finding those spots stands to be more rewarding than trying to just flag one horse as the most likely winner. Because in all honesty, the highest chance of winning a single horse has in this race is probably near 20 percent.
When this amount of talent comes together for a race, it all becomes a game of tactics. If one horse has just a one length deficit on another, it changes the complexion of the race. If one guy decides to leave the gate in an attempt to secure a trip, that changes the complexion of the race. And sure, that’s racing in general, but our day to day racing is not as puzzling as a group of 10 young horses whose entire schedule, style of racing and efforts on the track have been building to just this race. We like to think we’ve seen the best of these horses, but surely some of these camps have held their cards tight to their chest so they can maybe surprise their peers and stamp themselves into the annals of harness racing history.
