by Dave Briggs, Standardbred Communications, Ontario Horse Racing

Toronto, ON — Five years after trainer Casie Coleman won the $1.45 million Pepsi North America Cup and set Sportswriter on track to become the leading stallion in the Ontario Sires Stakes program, the trainer is back in the NA Cup with Arque Hanover.

Coleman remembers Sportswriter’s 2010 victory in the Cup at Mohawk Racetrack as if it was yesterday, not five years ago.

“Saying that, I’ve got 3-year-olds of his in the barn,” she said, laughing. “Time flies.”

Sportswriter, now based at Tara Hills Stud in Port Perry, Ontario, is the leading stallion in the Ontario Sires Stakes program. Coleman said it all started with his Pepsi North America Cup win.

“We had a rough Cup week with Sportswriter. I wasn’t even sure we were going to be able to race in the final that week (due to serious feet problems). He ended up winning it and it was pretty special,” Coleman said. “Obviously that sealed the deal to take him to stud which was going to be a huge stepping stone. So far, he’s proven himself as a sire.”

Saturday night, Coleman will try to win the NA Cup for the second time in her career. She sends out Arque Hanover from post seven with Hall of Famer John Campbell in the bike on behalf of part-owner and fellow trainer Jeff Gillis. Earlier this year, Gillis sent Arque Hanover to Coleman’s U.S. stable to race in a stakes event at Yonkers Raceway in New York City. Coleman maintains stables in Canada and New Jersey. When Arque Hanover returned to Canada, Gillis and fellow owners Mac Nichol, Big Als Stable and Gerald Stay opted to keep the horse with Coleman for the North America Cup run.

“Switching barns back and forth so many times wasn’t going to make much sense for the horse,” Coleman said. “So, they just decided they would keep him with me for the Cup. Then after the Cup he’s going back to the States and he’s pretty fully staked through the summer in the U.S.”

Coleman said she was impressed with Arque Hanover’s second-place finish in his NA Cup elimination on June 13, despite finishing six lengths behind morning line Cup favorite Wiggle It Jiggleit, an opponent Coleman calls “an absolute creature. No one’s beaten him, yet, and he’s just been awesome.”

Arque Hanover, winless in five starts this year, has been pegged at 25-1 in the morning line.

“Hopefully, they can go some speed duels up front,” Coleman said. “I don’t believe mine will be part of the speed duel, but you never know. He can leave lots if (John) Campbell decides to do that. But, in a perfect world, I’d love to somehow be second over. That would be sweet, but I’m a realist. Not many people can beat Wiggle It Jiggleit, especially the way he looked last week. But, it’s a horse race. You never know and I think my horse is as good as any of the other ones.

“He’s just a sweetheart. He’s good-gaited, he’s a nice horse in the barn. Everything we’ve asked of him, he does it. He just wants to do his job. He digs hard right to the wire and he definitely doesn’t want to be beaten. We’ve only had the horse about a month or so, but, so far, I haven’t found many bad qualities on him.”

The C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup is race 12 on a gangbusters 15-race, stakes-rich Mohawk card that starts with a 6:30 p.m. first-race post. The Pepsi North America Cup will also be televised live on TSN. The show begins at 10 p.m.

For more information about the Pepsi North America Cup, including a long list of fan promotions, please visit www.northamericacup.com.