James MacDonald has won plenty of races at Woodbine Mohawk Park but isn't counting on having a home-track advantage Saturday night in the $1-million Pepsi North America Cup. Drivers and horses head into a turn during harness racing action in Charlottetown on Saturday, April 19, 2008.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
CAMPBELLVILLE, Ont. – James MacDonald has won plenty of races at Woodbine Mohawk Park but isn’t counting on having a home-track advantage Saturday night in the $1-million Pepsi North America Cup.
The Guelph, Ont., resident will drive Redwood Hanover in the prestigious event for three-year-old pacers. And while MacDonald will certainly be familiar with the nuances of Mohawk Park, so too will many other drivers in the race who annually come up to the track for big events like the North America Cup.
“Honestly, I think it’s nothing,” said MacDonald, Woodbine’s leading driver this season and the country’s top driver the last two years. “These guys are such great drivers, they race everywhere.
“They know this track . . . a lot of them have won the North America Cup. There’s no home-field advantage in a race like this. I know I’ll be a home-town favourite and there’ll be a lot of people cheering so hopefully that will be able to push him across.”
MacDonald drove both Redwood Hanover and Moment is Here to third-place finishes last weekend in their respective Cup elimination races. With only two of the four third-place finishers slated for the final, those spots were determined by luck of the draw.
While the results were certainly good for the respective connections, they left MacDonald facing a difficult decision.
“I just kind of went with my gut,” he said. “Redwood Hanover was so good in the Somebeachsomewhere (a race he won June 3 at Mohawk) and got just a horrible trip in the elimination race and still hung in tough.
“I love Moment Is Here, I hate giving either one of them up, especially an Ontario-sired colt. It would mean a lot to win (with Moment is Here) but I just talked to some people I trust a lot about it and, like I said, went with my gut.”
MacDonald will appear in his fourth North America Cup race, looking to improve upon his best-ever seventh-place finish (in 2020 with Barbossa, 2021 with Bettor Son). But he’ll face a tough task Saturday night with Redwood Hanover (12-1 early pick) starting from the No. 8 hole.
“It will take a lot of luck like it does for any big race,” MacDonald said. “Redwood Hanover is going to need to be his absolute best and he’s going to need an absolute perfect trip from me.
“I don’t think with the eight-hole you can say he’s going to be favoured. He’s going to need a lot to go his way but I have a lot of confidence in the horse. If it works out, hopefully we can get it done.”
MacDonald wasn’t the only driver with a choice to make. Dexter Dunn, a New Zealand native, drove both Christchurch and Fulton to elimination wins last weekend and opted for Fulton, the 9-2 early third choice behind Confederate (5-2) and Its My Show (3-1).
Daniel Dube, of Trois-Rivières, Que., will drive Moment is Here on Saturday while Australian Todd McCarthy will replace Dunn with Christchurch.
The field, with post, horse and driver, in order includes: 1. Moment Is Here, Dube; 2. Its My Show, Scott Zeron, of Oakville, Ont.; 3. Christchurch, Todd McCarthy; 4. Fulton, Dunn; 5. Confederate, Tim Tetrick; 6. Voukefalas, Jordan Stratton; 7. Lyons Surfing, Andrew McCarthy; 8. Redwood Hanover, MacDonald; 9. Save America, Yannick Gingras, of Sorel, Que; 10. Ammo, David Miller.
Its My Show sports a 5-0 record this year while Zeron won this race in 2019 with Captain Crunch. Its My Show won its elimination starting from the No. 1 post, claiming the 2 1/4-length victory in 1:48.0.
All four elimination victors (Confederate was the other) finished under 1:49.0.
Nancy Takter, the trainer for Christchurch, will be looking for a third Cup victory (2019 with Captain Crunch, 2020 with Tall Dark Stranger).
Miller will appear in his 22nd North America Cup, leaving him three shy of retired Canadian John Campbell’s record of 25. Campbell, of Ailsa Craig, Ont., has won the race a record six times.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2023.
