Harness racing is heating up at Mohawk

When the calendar turns to June, things heat up at Mohawk. The next three Saturdays in Campbellville will be busy, climaxing with the spectacular North America Cup card on June 17. But it all starts this Saturday night with two major harness racing events.

A total of 16 Cup-eligible pacers will be among the 22 starters in two $70,000 divisions of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, the traditional final prep before Cup eliminations take place on June 10. In addition, a full field will contest the $100,845 Graduate Trot while two divisions of the Graduate Pace worth $67,230 each will be held.

The opening division of “The Beach” is led by Beyond Delight, Canada’s top two-year-old pacing colt in 2016. Sylvain Filion will drive for trainer Tony O’Sullivan. Favoured in the second split is Ideal Wheel, a prime Cup contender for trainer Casie Coleman, who will send Louis Philippe Roy out on the 2-1 morning-line favourite. 
The Graduate Trot has a 12-horse field. Broadway Donna, who took the first leg on May 20 at the Meadowlands, will start from post nine. The mare was a Breeders’ Crown champion last year. Dayson, a 12-time winner last year, will also get support with Yannick Gingras driving for trainer Ron Burke.

The first division of the Graduate Pace features two starts of last season, Lyons Snyder and Boston Red Rocks. The second division is a rematch of the Confederation Cup held at Flamboro two weeks ago with winner Western Fame having runner-up Check Six and third-place finisher Sintra lined up to his inside in the seven-horse field.

By Richard Mauntan

Reprinted with permission of The Toronto Son