CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The first Mohawk Million lined up last fall in Ontario with wealthy owners paying the $100,000 US fee to enter their horses in the seven-figure race for two-year-old trotters.
Venerate won the inaugural $1,333,334 edition of the race that created buzz throughout the North American harness racing scene.
The basis is nothing new in thoroughbred racing but was revolutionary in harness racing. Why could it not work on the East Coast?
The premise of the stake had nine owners each pay $100,000 US to buy a spot in the race months before the event was to be held and before any of the potential two-year-olds had even seen the starting gate for the first time in their careers. The other $100,000 slot would be awarded for free to the winner of the William Wellwood stake for rookie trotters, which was held two weeks before the Mohawk Million on Sept. 12.
Participants in the industry were on the fence about how it would go, but the race had a full field, and the 2021 edition of the stake has already seen the spots purchased by hopeful owners. The spots are transferable if the original purchaser does not have a horse they want to race in the event.
If this was done on a smaller scale on the East Coast, it could roll into a rich final for top dollars that would further support the healthy prices that Atlantic-bred yearlings sold for at last fall’s yearling sale. It would be just the answer for a problem that has plagued Atlantic racing since the final edition of the $50,000 Dairy Queen stake was held at Exhibition Park Raceway in Saint John, N.B., in 1999 with no races for young Atlantic breds coming close to that scale since.
For instance, set eight slots aside for a two-year-old pacing race with each spot costing $5,000 for an owner to purchase.
The buy-in would be the end of June before the rookies race with anybody dreaming of a chance grabbing a slot to see how the season plays out. The race would be scheduled for later in the season.
The owner can then race any two-year-old Atlantic bred they own in the race or sell the spot to another entity if they don’t think they have one good enough. The race would carry a $40,000 purse with no additional money needed from Red Shores or the industry association, but still creating value within the harness racing sector.
The buzz around this kind of event could be something special. The idea could use some tweaking, but we have one of the best products in North American racing so why don’t we try to do as much as we can to continue moving that forward.
Nicholas Oakes' column appears in The Guardian each Friday. He can be reached at [email protected].
