by Hannah Beckett, for WEG Communciations

Campbellville, ON — In 2014 Christopher Nicol purchased a yearling named Beast Mode for $5,000. That same year a $3,000 bargain named He’s Watching proved to be a tough contender in the Pepsi North America Cup before going on to set an all-age world record later that season.

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Beast Mode is ready for the animal to come out in this weekend’s Pepsi North America Cup eliminations.

Beast Mode will look to pose a similar threat this year, starting in Saturday’s (June 11) North America Cup eliminations at Mohawk Racetrack.

“He was sick during the sale and nobody was really interested in him because of it” said Robert Reid,the colt’s trainer. “He had a leg issue at that time but it’s all good now. Everything cleared up and he seems like a solid horse.”

Despite lacking flash at the sale Beast Mode possesses the pedigree to take a shot on.

A short-lived racing career led to a new occupation for Gaias Gold in the breeding shed, with Beast Mode being her first foal. The full brother to Gaias Gold is the widely-loved Golden Receiver, who banked over $2.2 million and a career mark of 1:48.

Trained down for his 2-year-old season by David Taff, Beast Mode hit the board only once in seven starts with a third place finish in a New York Sires Stakes event at Saratoga. Although the son of Rock N Roll Heaven showed flashes of speed last year, he is no longer concealing his talent no longer heading into the Cup eliminations.

Starting from Robert Reid’s barn for his sophomore season, as he was previously conditioned by David Taff, the colt made a surprisingly early return to the races in February of this year with an easy-going qualifier win at Flamboro Downs. In his second betting engagement of the season, Beast Mode won at Mohawk Racetrack on April 14, setting the tone for what would become a 5-1-1 campaign from eight starts so far.

“He’s always had the speed but he was just too crazy,” Reid said. “We had to find a way to gain some control. He had some issues with his mouth, feet and a couple other things but he just wanted to go. If you couldn’t get to the front, he didn’t know how to sit in the hole and would climb over other horses.mWhen I got him, we gave him time off and brought him back the right way. That meant never leaving, sitting behind a horse until the end of the mile and he caught on in terms of learning how to sit in a hole. I was there working in the barn, grooming him through last year and all that so I took over this season.”

Despite most of the colt’s competition returning to the races only last month, Reid believes the early start is no disadvantage.

“The extra starts have helped him come into his own and grow a little bit,” he said. “We schooled him a couple times before starting him this year and we figured we might as well give him a shot. He’s learned how to relax after leaving the gate and in the mile. He’s just started getting better every week, mentally, and in terms of speed.”

His progress is evident not only to his connections, but in his lines as well. With a mark of 1:51.4 taken over the Mohawk oval last month, Beast Mode comes into the elimination off a sharp 1:50.3 mile which earned him a game runner-up finish on Thursday (June 2).

“There’s a few tough ones in the elimination, if he can do what he’s doing now, he can get the right trip and go with them,” Reid said. “A few starts back when he went in 1:51.4, Sylvain said he could go in :49. I hope he can go with them just the same.”

Beast Mode will face off against O’Brien Award winner Control the Moment, American invader Check Six from the Burke barn and Lyons Snyder, who all pose a strong threat. Leaving from post five, he will team up with Trevor Henry in the fifth race on the card.

“I hope he lives up to what he’s shown us, everyone hopes their horse doesn’t throw a clunker in the race,” said Reid with a laugh. “He has enough speed he can get positioned well; he’s stronger the rest of the mile in a hole. Now it’s up to him to show us what he’s got.”

Beast Mode will start in the first of two North America Cup eliminations featured on the Saturday night (June 11) card at Mohawk Racetrack, which also includes the Roses Are Red and Fan Hanover eliminations.

The first race goes to post at 7:30 p.m.