by Mark McKelvie, WEG Communications

Campbellville, ON — The 2015 Mohawk Racetrack meet is set to get underway this Thursday (April 9) for a 52nd season of live racing.

The 118-date meet of North America’s premier harness racing will feature racing every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Tuesdays will be added to the lineup beginning June 2 for the balance of the meet. First-race post time each night is 7:25 p.m.

“Back to Mohawk makes for an exciting time,” said veteran driver Paul MacDonell. “It’s spring in the air and everyone is showing optimism with young horses and everything that’s coming up. It’s an exciting time.”

The 2015 meet will once again be highlighted by the 32nd edition of the C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup on Saturday (June 20). The ‘Cup’ undercard will be made up of the Fan Hanover, Goodtimes, Roses Are Red Stakes and the Mohawk Gold Cup. A special post time of 6:30 p.m. will be in place for Pepsi North America Cup night.

This year’s meet will see the return of the popular Mohawk Fireworks and Family Fun Night during the Victoria Day long weekend on Saturday (May 16). Post time on fireworks night will be 6:45 p.m.

The high-profile stakes calendar will once again bring the finest pacers and trotters to Mohawk throughout the entire season.

The Metro Pace, Canadian Pacing Derby and She’s A Great Lady Stakes will headline a spectacular evening of harness racing on Saturday (Sept. 5) while the Maple Leaf Trot and Canadian Trotting Classic will make up an ‘All-Star’ evening of trotting events on Saturday (Sept. 19).

Along with the world-class harness racing, horseplayers will notice a brand new wager added to the betting menu when racing returns to Mohawk.

The new Standardbred Jackpot Pick-6 wager will require horseplayers to select the winner of the final six races each night. If there are multiple winning tickets, 50 percent of that evening’s pool will be carried over to the following card. The other half will be paid out in consolation payouts to those Jackpot Pick-6 tickets which contain the highest number of winners.

If only one horseplayer successfully hits the Pick-6, they will take home the entire jackpot.

The Jackpot Pick-6 carries a 20 cent minimum bet and a 15 percent takeout.

Along with the special post times on signature event evenings, an early post time of 7:05 p.m. will be in place on Saturday (May 2).

Fans can stay up to date on news, promotions and events all season long by visiting www.MohawkRacetrack.com and the Mohawk Facebook and Twitter pages.