TORONTO, March 6 – A strong list of 72 three-year-old pacing colts and geldings have been nominated to the 32nd edition of the harness racing Pepsi North America Cup.
The $1 million Pepsi North America Cup, the richest race in Canadian harness racing, will be contested on Saturday, June 20 at Mohawk Racetrack.
Headlining this year's group of nominees is the Dan Patch and O'Brien Award winner Artspeak. The Tony Alagna trainee won eight of ten starts last year, including the $667,000 Metro Pace at Mohawk, en route to being named top freshmen pacing colt in Canada and the United States.
Artspeak compiled earnings of just over $805,000 last season, while taking a speed-mark of 1:50.2 at Mohawk.
Also on the list of nominees is O'Brien Award finalist Go Daddy Go. Trained by Bob McIntosh, Go Daddy Go banked just under $400,000 in his two-year-old campaign and never finished out of the money in 14 appearances.
Other notables nominated to this year's 'Cup' include, the undefeated Ontario Sires Stakes champion Reverend Hanover, Matron Stakes winner In The Arsenal and winter series standout Wiggle It Jiggleit.
Sustaining payments to this year's Pepsi North America Cup are due on March 16, April 15 and May 15. Eliminations for the 'Cup' are set for Saturday, June 13.
The complete list of nominees to the 32nd edition of the Pepsi North America Cup are listed below.
ALLBEEF N NOBULL
AMERICAN LEGEND
AMERICAN ROCK
AMERICANPRIMETIME
AMORA BEACH
ARQUE HANOVER
ARTSPEAK
ASAP HANOVER
AZOREAN ART
BERKLEY
BETTING EXCHANGE
BRING ON THE BEACH
CAMTURO ROCK
CORSICA HALL
DEALT A WINNER
DERBY DALE
DRACHAN HANOVER
DUDES THE MAN
EDWARD TEACH
ELWELL
FIRST CLASS HORSE
FREEDOMFORMYSOUL
GALLIC BEACH GIOVANNI
GO DADDY GO
GOOD FRIDAY THREE
HARFO HANOVER
HURRIKANE ALI
IF YOU WANT FIRE
IN THE ARSENAL
JET BLACK CADILLAC
JO PAS WELL SAID
JOE HILL
LYONS AGAIN
LYONS GEOFFJNR
LYONS JIMMYDEAN
LYONS LEVI LEWIS
MAXDADDY BLUE CHIP
MIGRATE BLUE CHIP
MIKES POWERHOUSE
MITT JAGGER
MOHEGAN BLUE CHIP
MULLET BLUE CHIP
ONEISALONELYNUMBER
PAPARAZZI HANOVER
PENJI HANOVER
PHYSICALLYINCLINED
PIERCE HANOVER
RANDYS PLAN
REVENGE SHARK
REVEREND HANOVER
RICH WISDOM
ROCK N ROLL WORLD
ROCK THE NITE
ROCKIN IN HEAVEN
ROCKNTOUCH
SICILY
SOME POWER
SOMWHEREONTHEBEACH
SPLIT THE HOUSE
SPORTS BETTOR
SPORTS IMAGE
STOVER
THE SPY
THE WAYFARING MAN
TRACEUR HANOVER
TRADING UP
WAKIZASHI HANOVER
WELL WELL WELL
WIGGLE IT JIGGLEIT
WINDSONG LIGHTNING
YANKEE BOUNTY
Nominations have also been made for a pair of stakes events set for Pepsi North America Cup night.
Horse of the Year Jk Shesalady leads a group of 82 three-year-old pacing fillies nominated to the $455,000 (estimated) Fan Hanover Stakes, while 69 three-year-old trotters have been nominated to the $270,000 (estimated) Goodtimes Stakes
The nominees are also in for two prominent trotting events in September.
A total of 79 three-year-old trotters have been nominated to the $685,000 (estimated) Canadian Trotting Classic on September 19 at Mohawk. Headlining the list of nominees is O'Brien Award winner Habitat and Dan Patch Award winner Pinkman.
Also on 'Trotting Classic' night, the $410,000 (estimated) Elegantimage Stakes for three-year-old trotting fillies will take place. A group of 75 sophomore trotting fillies, featuring World Champion Mission Brief, have been made eligible to the Elegantimage.
To view the full list of nominees to these stakes events and several others, click here.
The first sustaining payment to each stake event is due March 16.
