Woodbine Entertainment Group’s Mark McKelvie released the first Road to the North America Cup this week and two Ontario-sired colts, Go Daddy Go and Reverend Hanover, are among the top three on his list.
His number one choice in mid-March for the 2015 NA Cup, the richest Canadian pacing event with a $1 million purse, is Artspeak, a winner of eight of 10 races last year and over $800,000.
In the number two spot is Go Daddy Go, a striking chestnut colt owned by breeder Bob McIntosh along with Dave Boyle of Bowmanville, Ontario. Diamond Creek Racing, Pa., which now stands Go Daddy Go’s sire Ponder, bought into the colt in January.
“The Hall of Fame duo of McIntosh and John Campbell will be looking to click for the first time together in the NA Cup,” writes McKelvie.
Another son of Ponder, Thinking Out Loud, gave McIntosh his first NA Cup win in 2012. Ponder, a winner of $1.6 million in his career for McIntosh and partners, missed the NA Cup in 2004 after his three-year-old season was cut short due to an ankle injury.
Reverend Hanover, who made just four starts last year and won them all, is McKelvie’s third choice on his NA Cup list. Chris Christoforou drove the colt in all of his starts last year for trainer Casie Coleman and partners Steve Calhoun and Anthony Beaton. A son of Sportswriter, who captured the 2010 NA Cup for Coleman, Reverend Hanover ended his brief rookie season by winning the OSS Super Final at Mohawk in October.
To view the full Road to the North America Cup, please click here.