Mohawk, Big M head Grand Circuit action

Harness Racing This Week: Canadian Trotting Classic, Elegantimage, Armbro Flight, Simcoe Stakes and She’s A Great Lady and Milton eliminations, Woodbine Mohawk Park, Milton, Ont.; and Kindergarten Series, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, N.J.

Schedule Of Events: Woodbine Mohawk Park will feature Grand Circuit action on Friday (Sept. 17) and Saturday (Sept. 18).

On Friday, Mohawk has the C$233,000 Armbro Flight for older trotting mares and two C$35,000 Milton eliminations for older pacing mares.

The Saturday card features the C$606,500 Canadian Trotting Classic for 3-year-olds, the C$414,000 Elegantimage for 3-year-old trotting fillies, the C$176,815 Simcoe Stakes for 3-year-old colt pacers and two C$35,000 She’s A Great Lady eliminations for 2-year-old pacing fillies.

Meadowlands Racetrack on Friday night (Sept. 17) will host a leg of the Kindergarten Series for 2-year-olds. Each of the nine races will go for a purse of $20,000. There will be three divisions in the 2-year-old filly trot and two divisions each in the colt pace, colt trot and filly pace.

Desperate Man, under a perfect drive from Trevor Henry, stormed home to take the C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup, Saturday night (Sept. 11) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Trained by Kathy Cecchin, who co-owns with her husband, John, their daughter Nikki, and son-in-law Paul Davies, the son of Shadow Play finished a hard-charging second in last week’s Cup eliminations.

On this night, he went one better and did it in style.

Desperate Man, under a perfect drive from Trevor Henry, stormed home to take the C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup. New Image Media photo.

It was 3-5 favorite Bulldog Hanover who took early control of the race, as Jody Jamieson piloted the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes champ to the front around the first turn, leading his nine rivals through a sensible opening quarter-mile in :27.3. Rockyroad Hanover sat second followed by Whichwaytothebeach and Perfect Sting, while Henry had Desperate Man positioned in fifth.

There was little change as Bulldog Hanover continued to call the shots after a half in :55.1, with Henry making sure he kept his sophomore in touch with the leader, tipping to the outside and following the cover of Perfect Sting.

Desperate Man continued to pick up steam and picked off his rivals one by one, as the field began the turn for home.

Midway down the lane, Desperate Man, second to Bulldog Hanover in one of two Cup elims, exploded on the scene, striking front and going on to post a three-quarter length triumph in a time of 1:49.3, carving out a final quarter in :27.1. Perfect Sting finished second, Whichwaytothebeach was third, and Bulldog Hanover was fourth.

A $20,000 purchase at the 2019 Lexington Selected Sale, Desperate Man had delivered his owners and driver with their biggest win along with a C$500,000 payday, while returning $17.20 for the win.

“He’s a special horse, but you know, we’ve had a lot of nice horses over the years, but nothing that makes money like this one,” offered John Cecchin.

Henry, longtime friends with the Cecchins, was thrilled to see the longtime horsepeople hoist the Cup trophy.

“It feels great. Like these people deserve it; they’ve been in the business a long time, had some hard times, and got lucky to get this horse. You know, I started at the bottom and now I won the biggest one, so it’s been great.”

The Winbak Farm-bred bay arrived at the Cup with just a lone score in eight starts on the year. On the big stage at Woodbine Mohawk Park, he departed with a win for the ages.

There could still be more memorable moments to come.

“Hopefully, like the game plan is, he’s a Saturday night horse for two or three years, and after that we’ll buy him a saddle and ride him,” said John Cecchin.

For now, they’ll ride the wave of Pepsi North America Cup glory.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2021, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2021 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders (through the races on 9-11-21):
Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 715; 2. Yannick Gingras – 560; 3. Tim Tetrick – 518; 4. David Miller – 509; 5. Andrew McCarthy – 428.5.
Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 698; 2. Nancy Takter – 423; 3. Tony Alagna – 371.5; 4. Nifty Norman – 346; 5. Marcus Melander – 340.
Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 138.5; 2. Weaver Bruscemi – 127.3; 3. Brad Grant – 118.2; 4. Courant Inc. – 117; 5. Crawford Farms Racing – 116.5.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit racing will be taking place next week at the Delaware County (Ohio) Fair, Hoosier Park, Woodbine Mohawk Park and The Meadowlands. Delaware will host nine Grand Circuit races, led by the Little Brown Jug for 3-year-old pacers. Hoosier Park features eight Grand Circuit races, including the Caesars Trotting Classic for open trotters. Mohawk Park’s week will include the Mohawk Million for 2-year-old trotters and the Metro Pace and She’s A Great Lady finals for freshman pacers. The Meadowlands will host another leg of the Kindergarten Series for freshman pacers and trotters.

by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit