by Greg Blanchard, media/communications, Woodbine Entertainment Group

Campbellville, ON — A pair of unstoppable forces will collide this Saturday night (September 15) at Mohawk Racetrack in what is the most highly anticipated match-up of the season in the sport of harness racing.

American invader Donato Hanover and Quebec import Val Taurus will clash for the first time in the C$1 million Canadian Trotting Classic for 3-year-old colt trotters, which goes as race seven on the 12-race program and has a scheduled post time of 9:53 p.m. (EDT).

Both colts come into the race riding incredible 15-race win streaks and both are undefeated this season. In fact, Val Taurus has never tasted defeat in his career while Donato Hanover has not been beaten since his first career start on June 22, 2006, at the Meadowlands.

After reeling off eight straight wins to end his rookie campaign, Donato Hanover, a son of Andover Hall-D Train, came into this season with lofty expectations. He has lived up to the hype and has emerged as one of the sport’s brightest stars. His most important career win came earlier this season in the $1.5 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands.

Prior to last weekend’s Canadian Trotting Classic eliminations, Val Taurus had not ventured outside the province of Quebec. He quickly silenced any doubters with a thoroughly dominant win in his split for driver Trevor Ritchie, who was on board for the first time.

The connections of both horses had the luxury of choosing their post positions for Saturday’s final after scoring elimination wins. Val Taurus will start from post two with Donato Hanover leaving right beside him from post three on Saturday.

The co-feature on Saturday night is the C$693,500 Maple Leaf Trot for older trotters, which has been slated as race nine and has a scheduled post time of 10:43 p.m.

Former Hambletonian winner and double-millionaire Vivid Photo will be joined by Breeders Crown winner Equinox Bi and the exciting European invader Going Kronos in the star-studded field of 10.

The strong undercard will feature world record holder Somebeachsomewhere, who captured the C$1 million Metro Pace on September 1 in 1:49.3, making him the fastest 2-year-old pacer in the history of the sport.

First post on Saturday’s program from Mohawk is 7:20 p.m. Both feature races will be televised nationally on the SCORE from 9:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. (EDT).