Milton, ON — The Grade 1 Mohawk Million is set for its sixth edition this Saturday (Sept. 20) with what on paper is the deepest field the race has ever seen.
The old saying of “they race them on the track, not paper” is true, but a quick glance at the entries for the 2025 Mohawk Million provides hopes for an epic 2-year-old trot battle at the Campbellville, Ont., oval.
In recent years, prominent sire stakes programs have limited the meeting of the sport’s best until later in the season. This year’s Million will bring together champions and leaders from five jurisdictions (Ontario, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Kentucky).
The path to the Mohawk Million started several months ago when the deadline to apply for one of 10 C$50,000 slots passed in mid-February. From there, a draw was held in March to determine the slot owners from 37 parties that applied. Those lucky to be selected in the draw were left with options: race, sell, trade or lease.
When the final entries for this year’s Million were received, seven of the 10 slots had changed hands.
Below is the chart showing how each horse ended up in their slot:
| Original Slot Owner | New Slot Owner | Horse |
| Diane Bertrand | Åke Svanstedt, Tomas Andersson, Lennart Johansson | Dublin Hanover |
| Kyle Northover | Ben Baillargeon, Claude Hamel, Nunzio Vena, Glengate Farms | Strobe Lite |
| Bruce Northover | Determination | Shimmering Hanover |
| Brad Grant | Phillip Steinberg | Ardonne |
| Casie Coleman | Dark Horse Farm LLC | Silverstein |
| Kempii Stable Inc. | Super Endurance Stable, Bill Manes, Leo Fleming, Mark Moger | Endurance |
| Allister Stable | Mazza Racing Stables LLC, Annie Stoebe | Diabolic Hill |
| Hunterton Farms | Apex | |
| William Pollock | Cambridge Hanover | |
| Bud Hatfield | AI |
With the dust now settled in terms of who will compete, the focus now turns to who will prevail in the C$1 million contest.
The morning-line odds have three horses in the range of 5-2 to 7-2.
Endurance (post six, Andy McCarthy) is the slight 5-2 morning-line favorite. The Chris Beaver trainee has just one loss in seven starts and captured the $400,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship this past Sunday in 1:52.3.
Although trained by Ohio’s Chris Beaver, Endurance will have a larger local fanbase thanks to his co-owners Bill Manes of Rockwood, Ont., and Leo Fleming of Campbellville, Ont.
Ardonne (post three, Scott Zeron) has already enjoyed Grade 1 success at Woodbine Mohawk Park, winning the C$485,000 William Wellwood Memorial on Aug. 23 in 1:52.4. Now riding a two-race win streak, Ardonne qualified last Friday for trainer Megan Scran and owner Phillip Steinberg in preparation for his biggest race to date.
The last loss Ardonne suffered was a runner-up finish to Apex (post one, Dexter Dunn) in the $225,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Final on Aug. 2. Trained by Marcus Melander, Apex’s dominance in the Garden State also includes a victory in the $250,000 New Jersey Classic final on Sept. 5.
However, the biggest and most lucrative victory for Apex came last Friday in the $368,950 Grade 1 Peter Haughton Memorial at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, which also secured an automatic entry in the Breeders Crown.
The Haughton is the same race Apex’s stablemate Maryland won prior to winning last year’s Mohawk Million.
The talent does not drop off after the top-three on the morning line as evident by the profiles of the other seven starters below:
- Silverstein (post two, David Miller) – most recently finished finished third in the $400,000 Kentucky Sires Stakes Championship for trainer Matthew Burkholder.
- Shimmering Hanover (post four, Louis-Philippe Roy) – the lone filly in this year’s race most recently won a division of the Champlain (G3) for trainer Luc Blais.
- Cambridge Hanover (post five, Jason Bartlett) – a $1 million yearling purchase at last year’s Harrisburg Sale for Bill Pollock, Bruce Areman and Andrew Harris.
- Dublin Hanover (post seven, Åke Svanstedt) – arrives at the Mohawk Million off a four-length victory in the $300,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final.
- Strobe Lite (post eight, James MacDonald) – the lone Ontario sired entrant is riding a two-race win streak with victories in the OSS Gold and Champlain (G3) for trainer Ben Baillargeon.
- Diabolic Hill (post nine, Todd McCarthy) – a multiple New Jersey Sire Stakes division winner that was third in the Aug. 2 final for trainer Annie Stoebe.
- AI (post 10, Yannick Gingras) – most recently won the $300,000 New York Sire Stakes Final for trainer Ron Burke.
The stakes record for the Mohawk Million is 1:52.3, set by Maryland in last year’s event. Maryland returns to this year’s Mohawk Million card as a top contender in the C$615,000 Canadian Trotting Classic (G1).
The past winners of the Mohawk Million are listed below.
| Year | Horse | Driver | Trainer | Time |
| 2024 | Maryland | Dexter Dunn | Marcus Melander | 1:52.3 |
| 2023 | T C I | David Miller | Ron Burke | 1:54.3 |
| 2022 | Oh Well | Tim Tetrick | Marcus Melander | 1:53.4 |
| 2021 | Venerable | David Miller | R. ‘Nifty’ Norman | 1:54.2 |
| 2020 | Venerate | Andy McCarthy | Julie Miller | 1:53.2 |
The 2025 Mohawk Million is carded as Race 10 on this Saturday’s card at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The 13-race card features five Grade 1 races: the Mohawk Million, Metro Pace, Canadian Trotting Classic, She’s A Great Lady and Elegantimage. Post time is 6:35 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m.
For the latest news and information, visit Woodbine.com/Mohawk or follow @WoodbineSB and @WoodbineComms on X.