Editor’s note: Jody Jamieson will join Wendy Ross as co-host for The HarnessRacing.com Show, presented by the Standardbred Horse Sales Company, scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday (June 13) live from Woodbine Mohawk Park and the Pepsi North America Cup. The HarnessRacing.com Show will be available live on USTA social media platforms: Facebook and YouTube.
Hightstown, NJ – Brandon Blvd will have to make history to win Saturday’s (June 13) C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup from post 10 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, but the colt has made history before at the Ontario oval.
Last year, Brandon Blvd became the first 2-year-old pacer to win a race in Canada with a sub-1:49 mile when he captured his Breeders Crown elimination in 1:48.4 at Mohawk. And last week in his North America Cup elimination, he became the first horse to pass previously undefeated Beau Jangles in the stretch of any race, although he ultimately got nabbed in the final strides by Odds On Mr Mamba well to his outside.
Now, on Saturday, Brandon Blvd, with driver Dexter Dunn, will attempt to become the first horse to win the Grade 1 North America Cup from post 10. Over the past 32 years, when the event for 3-year-old pacers was moved to Woodbine (1994 through 2006), and since then to Mohawk, no horse has won the race from that outermost starting spot.
“Brandon Blvd had done a lot of firsts,” trainer Andrew Harris said at the North America Cup press conference following Tuesday’s draw. “If there’s any (other) firsts out there that he can accomplish, maybe this is it.”
Of course, it will not be easy. But six of Brandon Blvd’s nine career wins have come from off the pace, with three seeing him no better than fifth with a quarter-mile to go. Last year, he started from post 9 in a division of the International Stallion Stakes (G3) at the Red Mile and rallied from eighth after three-quarters to win by a head over Frantic Hanover in 1:49.1.
“He sat parked, with cover, that mile and he got it done,” Harris said Thursday. “I think that’s one of the strongest things about Brandon Blvd – he actually doesn’t need a specific type of trip. He’s won, literally, every single way there is to win. He’s won from the front, he’s done it first-up, he’s done it from off the pace. So, that is a huge asset. Obviously, you need things to go your way, but I don’t think that there’s a specific trip where he races better.”
Brandon Blvd, a son of Downbytheseaside-Alexis Faith, has nine wins and three seconds in 13 career races (with earnings of nearly $500,000) for the Punisher 11 Stable ownership group of Bill Pollock, Bruce Areman, and Harris. He won Grade 3 stakes in his first two races this year – the Paul Revere Pace at Plainridge Park and the Somebeachsomewhere at Mohawk, which he captured in a stakes-record 1:48.1.
His next start was his North America Cup elimination this past Saturday, where he overtook Beau Jangles in deep stretch but was beaten by Odds On Mr Mamba by a neck in 1:48.2. The setback cost Brandon Blvd the opportunity to draw for a post position in spots 2 through 6 as an elim winner.
“I truthfully don’t think he saw Mr Mamba,” Harris said. “When he got by Beau, he thought the job was done and kind of let up a little bit. Me and Dex were talking, and we just firmly believe that the other one was out so wide, he just didn’t see him coming, not in enough time to get re-engaged anyways.
“The thing that’s tough now is that your destiny is tied to what everybody else does. That’s the hardest part for me. There’s not really a lot of taking your destiny into your own hands from (post 10). We’re not the biggest leaver in the race, so really what we need is a lot of action. If things worked out and we sat parked with cover, that would probably be the most ideal situation. But that said, there’s probably four or five horses that want the same thing; they want to trip-out.”
Beau Jangles, despite the first loss of his 16-race career last week, heads to the North America Cup as the 7-5 morning-line favorite. The 2025 Horse of the Year will leave from post 5 with Bob McClure driving for trainer Dr. Ian Moore. Odds On Mr Mamba, starting from post 3 with James MacDonald in the sulky for trainer Melanie Wrenn, is 9-5 followed by the event’s other elimination winner, Sweet Lovin Lou, at 9-2. Sweet Lovin Lou will leave from post 4 with Scott Zeron driving for trainer Dan Lagace.
Brandon Blvd is the fourth choice on the morning line, at 8-1.
“This is one of our signature races, and to be able to be part of one is great,” said Harris, a native of Ontario who has been based in the U.S. for a number of years. “But to be able to win one would be huge. For me, it would be everything. These are the races that put you on the map.”
The North America Cup is race 11 on Mohawk’s loaded Saturday card, which also includes the C$420,000 Fan Hanover (G1) for 3-year-old female pacers, C$320,000 Roses Are Red (G1) for older female pacers, C$240,000 Goodtimes (G2) for 3-year-old trotters, C$215,000 Armbro Flight (G2) for older female trotters and C$100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup Invitational Pace (G3).
Racing begins at 6:30 p.m. (EDT) Saturday at Woodbine Mohawk Park. For free programs, visit the track’s website here.