by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — Father’s Day, according to the calendar, is Sunday. In the heart of Dr. Dominic Colarusso, Jr., though, it will be Saturday.

And it will be the father supplying the gift.

Two Twentytwo will line up behind the gate in Saturday’s $1.4 million Pepsi North America Cup and Colarusso and his family will no doubt feel the overwhelming presence of the late Dr. Dominic Colarusso, Sr., who got into the horse business in the 1960s.

Colarusso Sr. died Feb. 22, 2002 at the exact age of 81; he was born Feb. 22, 1921. The Colarussos’ horse in the North America Cup was born Feb. 22, 2004, hence the name Two Twentytwo.

“I’m celebrating my father’s legacy in racing,” Colarusso Jr. said. “This was the first horse conceived in the stable after my father’s passing. I couldn’t help but think it was a gift from my dad; I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s been a real emotional ride.”

Two Twentytwo is descended from Newport Wigwam, the first broodmare in the family’s stable. Two Twentytwo is by Blissfull Hall out of the mare Marvelous Helen, who also foaled steady earning DC’s Bunny — an 8-year-old that won in 1:51.4 on Monday at Mohawk.

New Image Media photo

Two Twentytwo was a 1:52.2 winner in his Nassagaweya split as a freshman.

Last year, Two Twentytwo won five of nine races, including divisions of the Champlain and Nassagaweya stakes at Mohawk. He started slowly this season, in part because of a foot problem, but put together his best effort in his North America Cup elimination race. He finished fourth behind Sutter Hanover, Artriverderci, and Domitian Hanover. He was timed in 1:51.3.

Fourth place, however, meant Two Twentytwo needed to win the random draw against the other two fourth-place finishers to claim the tenth and final spot in the Cup field. Of course, he did.

“I’ve got high hopes for Saturday night,” said Colarusso, who is an orthodontist (like his father) living in Olean, New York, about 70 miles south of Buffalo. “You’ve got to be in it to win it. My dad was a great guy and did a lot for a lot of people. I think what goes around, comes around. I think this is some of the payback. I have a feeling.”

(Coincidentally, several stores around Olean are selling Pepsi, which happens to be the North America Cup’s title sponsor, for $2.22 for two 2-liter bottles.)

Two Twentytwo, who is trained by Rheal Bourgeois and driven by Roger Mayotte, is eligible to all the major 3-year-old pacing stakes this year, except the Little Brown Jug. The Colarusso clan will travel by bus from the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park to Campbellville, Ontario, home of Mohawk, for the North America Cup.

“I feel very fortunate because I believe the horse can go here,” Colarusso said. “I’ve visualized this for the last two years with this horse. Just to be in it, to be a part of it, it’s a big thing.

“Roger is going for the ride of his life Saturday night, whether he knows it or not.”