by Brett Sturman

With eliminations for this year’s Pepsi North America Cup now officially under three weeks away, all reasonably-viable contenders have now made their way back to the track to start their 3-year-old years. As one would expect this early in the season, the list of top 10 contenders published by Woodbine Mohawk Park mirrors how last year’s 2-year-old season finished and for reference that list includes, in order, Louprint, Captain Optimistic, Fallout, Chantilly, Sipponsearoc, Crack Shot, Go Go Grasshopper, Swingtown, Fifth And Five, and Lite Up The World.

But could there be any surprise lurking from lesser-known horses?

Before getting into some possible up and comers, last year’s Breeders Crown winner Louprint has been the first to establish his position as the top-rated contender. Making his first start of the season two weeks ago in a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes (PASS) at The Meadows, he went a massive mile from post 8. Floating away at the start, parked three-wide for part of the first turn and then still parked two-wide until shortly before the second turn, he eventually went on to post a 1:49.3 mile at first asking on a track rated sloppy. He went wire-to-wire in 1:50.2 on Saturday afternoon (May 17) at Pocono in his PASS test as the heavy favorite in a small field of five.

A possible challenger worth noting is TH Kay C Crunch, who finished third in that same PASS event. He is North America Cup eligible and came to Pocono from Mohawk where he just missed last out in 1:50.4 to the #10 rated contender, Lite Up The World. Possibly a key race, third finisher from that same event Set Shot (also North America Cup eligible) came back to win next at Mohawk in 1:51.2. He won again on Saturday as part of an SBOA finals night at Mohawk; another worth keeping an eye on.

Courts On Fire is another one that you don’t find yet amongst the assumed top contenders, but could be of interest. Having raced as a 2-year-old exclusively last year in New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) races through seven starts, he finished his freshman season with a big win as a 14-1 longshot in the $304,000 NYSS final. In his lone start back to kick off 2025, he impressed at Mohawk. Being cautiously handled in that race last week, he angled late out of the 3-hole and sprinted home with a flying final eighth to miss by a length to the odds-on race favorite.

There are also a few horses with higher name recognition and if you wanted to split hairs could argue that they deserve to be listed as top 10 contenders. I’d start in that category with American Son. He spent most of his season last year in Lexington and wrapped up that campaign relatively early, with his final start coming on Oct. 5, an International Stallion Stake he won in 1:49.4, one of his two sub-1:50 wins last year at The Red Mile.

My thought process is that if you have Louprint at #1 and Sipponsearoc at #5 (no argument on either), then American Son needs to be somewhere in that mix as he battled interchangeably with both of those throughout last year. American Son made his 2025 debut two weeks ago at The Meadowlands in a conditioned race that included older horses where he was a close-up third in 1:50.3 with a last quarter of :26.1. In that same race, moving even faster up the inside to be second was a horse named Sugar Man. That one, while not eligible to the North America Cup, is eligible to the Meadowlands Pace and is worth continuing to watch.

You could make a top tier case as well for Prince Hal Hanover, who showed an affinity last year for the Mohawk oval. Four of his 10 starts in 2024 came at the local track, and those races included a win in the Geers in his first lifetime race, and second place finishes in the Nassagaweya, and both the Metro eliminations and final, where he was bested only by Fallout in that $1 million dollar event. He returned to the races two weeks ago in a PASS event at The Meadows where he nearly lasted from post 8 in a fast 1:49.1 mile. He also won on Saturday in a race that included the likes of among others, Go Go Grasshopper, which could certainly have further North America Cup implications.

Another one with name recognition is Papi’s Pistol. He danced every big dance last year while racing a total of 14 times which seems like a ton these days as a 2-year-old. He was third in his Metro elimination last year in one of his two starts at Mohawk (the Metro final being the other) and he won the $206,000 Kindergarten final at The Meadowlands the week after winning there in 1:49.3. Thus far in 2025, he has qualified twice at The Meadowlands where both have been respectable tries; the first of which he was just a couple of lengths back behind Captain Optimistic and Fallout.

Then there are others who would need to make up more ground in a short time but could still be worth noting. That includes Dreamboat Hanover who was actually great in chasing home Louprint two races ago at The Meadows but perhaps bounced last out when finishing third at Pocono as the 1-9 favorite. Jon I Love Dat won first out this season at Tioga and while I wouldn’t consider him a top contender, it would be a nice story to see a horse go from winning the Massachusetts Breeders Stake final to the North America Cup. Pants On Fire and Strangeronthebeach have similar profiles coming from trainer Brian Brown; both just getting their careers started but look promising early at Scioto and Hoosier. Last year’s Matron champion Dandy Ideal sports two strong return qualifiers at Pocono. Surprising 1:48.4 winner last year, D A Love Boat, was in-to-go Saturday.

Lastly, in an apparent emerging theme of NBA-named horses, both Doncic and Nikola J remain North America Cup eligible. For publicity, how about getting these two into a match race on the undercard?