Big North America Cup Card at Mohawk

Woodbine Entertainment Group has quietly assembled one of the best harness racing cards I have ever seen for this Saturday. The highlight, the $1.5M North America Cup, goes in its usual race 7 slot and is surrounded by some excellent racing.

The Elegant Image for $520k goes in race three and features the very good Crys Dream.

The $100k NA Cup consolation is a nice betting affair in race 4 to kick off the pick 4.

The $350k Goodtimes is in the race 5 superfecta slot.

The Mohawk Gold Cup returns to Mohawk in race 6 and is an excellent addition to this years card.

The $600k Fan Hanover goes in the ninth, with the undefeated See You At Peelers looking (and likely) to stay that way.

This is one of the few harness cards of the season with $3M + handles, and is a must-bet for any harness fan, and even some thoroughbred fans. I am not sure they are offering free program downloads, but I sure hope they do.

Notes:

We complain about television coverage in racing, but we're not the only ones. A couple of family members were traveling through New England last week, staying in a southern New Hampshire hotel. When they flipped on the tube to watch the NHL game between Boston and Vancouver they could not find it. When they asked the front desk he told them "nope we do not have that channel". They finally found a bar who carried Versus. When a home town team is in the Cup final and the hometown folks can barely watch the game, that's some serious trouble.

Blog comments can sure stir the pot..... A recent injury to star driver Mark MacDonald has fueled some in racing to raise a few bucks for him while he recuperates. This prompted the first comment on the story: "How many hundreds of thousands of dollars did Mark McDonald earn last year? I would prefer if the money went to a charity - or at least a portion of the money." It's not a bad point really, since Mark has made millions the last decade, but like a lot of blog post comments, there is a time and a place....

Tom Lamarra writes one of the better opinion-feature pieces in racing.

Vancouver riot? Ok, I was cheering for the B's and have since I could lace a pair of skates (and that happened often in the polar area I grew up!), but really, what's with people today? Don't they have something better to do? I am getting old, and crusty now, but like a jock or driver who breaks the rules I expect some punishment for these doughheads. Maybe next time it won't be considered cool to burn cars and cause mayhem if the punishment is there. Rant over.

Congrats to the Bourbon Slush stable, Frank Antonacci's group of new owners. Their three yearlings qualified Tuesday, which is a feat in and of itself. The colt looks like he has some go. I hope they have some fun!

Have a good Thursday everyone.