72 nominated to $1m Pepsi North America Cup

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.