Mohawk Million slot a hot property in first online sale
by Melissa Keith
Trainer Casie Coleman told HRU that the $50,000 (Can.) Mohawk Million slot she had purchased in March had changed hands, and was about to change hands again, this time online. With the Grade 1 race for 2-year-old trotters coming up at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday (Sept. 20), one of the 10 coveted slots was available in a new way.
The deadline to apply for a 2025 Mohawk Million slot was Feb. 18, with $25,000 (Can.) due on that date and the second $25,000 (Can.) installment required by June 2. To narrow the field to the maximum 10 entrants, the Woodbine race office conducted a draw from a record 37 slot applicants on March 19. The slots went to owners Bud Hatfield, Diane Bertrand, William Pollock, Brad Grant, Allister Stable, Bruce Northover, Kyle Northover, Hunterton Farms, Coleman, and Kemppi Stable Inc.
Gino Toscani was one of the 27 applicants who did not land a Mohawk Million slot this year. Coleman said she sold hers to the Mount Hope, ON horseman, in hopes that he would have a young trotter ready for the race.
“That was back in April, I think,” Toscani confirmed on Tuesday (Aug. 26). “I had a colt and a filly [by] Captain Corey, and they looked like they were promising, training down.”
The owner/driver said he always believed in the value of the Mohawk Million, although he was disappointed when the price of the slots was lowered last year, leading to a then-record 21 applicants.
“I’ve supported it all along,” said Toscani, who did not have his name drawn for a slot this year. “Yeah, last year was the same thing. It wasn’t like that before. You used to buy a slot for $100,000 [Can.] each [since 2021]. Last year, the slots were $50,000 [Can.] and some people who supported it for the past three years didn’t get a slot… Serge [Godin] from Determination didn’t get a spot last year… I thought that the people who supported it for all these years should at least get a spot. It wasn’t fair.”
To increase his chances of landing a slot for this year’s Mohawk Million, Toscani said he spoke with an industry friend ahead of the draw. He and trainer Desiree Jones go to Sunshine Meadows in Delray Beach, FL each winter with their horses; Casie Coleman is also based there.
“This year, Casie and I both put in,” said Toscani. “We sometimes go out to dinner together in Florida. We said we’d buy one [Mohawk Million entry] each and see who got one.”
Conditions for the Mohawk Million state that owners are free to sell, trade, or lease their slots to third parties. Toscani said that it wasn’t uncommon for horsepeople to get together to improve their odds.
“If you’ve got three or four friends you can trust, everybody puts in [for a slot], and hopefully somebody’s going to get it,” he said.
When that approach is unsuccessful, owners looking to acquire a slot can make an offer to slot-holders. The winner of the inaugural (2020) Mohawk Million, Venerate, was entered after Pinske Stables and the Andy Miller Stable were able to make a deal with Brad Grant for his $110,000 (U.S.) slot.
As of Tuesday (Aug. 26), interested parties could bid for a Mohawk Million slot online for the first time, as the slot Coleman originally acquired for Toscani was being offered for sale via onGait.com, with no reserve bid.
“This may be your LAST chance to purchase a slot!” read the comment accompanying the listing. “Slot owners must declare a horse to race in their slot by Monday (Sept. 15) at noon. Woodbine will add $500,000 to maintain the $1 million purse. The change to conditions from last year to 2025 is limiting owners and trainers to declaring a maximum of three horses to the Mohawk Million race. Serious inquiries only, please.”
Toscani said that he had no choice but to sell the slot, because his two most promising 2-year-old trotters had encountered setbacks.
“The colt, Captain Mikah, he qualified in 1:58.3 [winning going away at Mohawk on June 13],” said Toscani. “He’s a nice colt, but he ended up with some suspensory problems, so we’ll lay him off and race him at 3, that’s the plan.”
Captain Mikah made two starts at Mohawk, finishing fourth in the Tompkins-Geers on June 27 and second in a July 11 conditioned race for 2-year-old trotters, before being scratched sick from leg 1 of the Millard Farms on July 21.
His good filly, Smorgastarta (Captain Corey—Coffeecake Hanover), was a $50,000 purchase as a yearling at the 2024 Lexington sale.
“She got injured in May [and has yet to qualify],” said Toscani.
A prominent owner in previous editions of the Mohawk Million, Toscani said he didn’t envision selling this year’s slot to turn a profit.
“I paid $50,000 Canadian, so if I’m getting $50,000 American, that’s around $70,000 Canadian,” he said. “It’s at $56,000 [U.S. as of mid-afternoon Aug. 26]. It could go higher. I don’t have a horse this year, so everybody’s happy and it all makes sense [to make the slot available online]. With young horses, that’s just the way it is. No guarantees.”
He noted that the slot was attracting attention from plenty of would-be buyers and the simply curious.
“We’ve got 4,200 views and 18 or 20 people who want to bid,” he said.
As for potential buyers, he said he wasn’t sure who was bidding.
“It depends on who’s got a really good horse who’s got a shot,” said Toscani.
One thing was certain, Toscani said he was “not interested” in making a deal with another owner or trainer, “to split the purse or get a percentage of the purse, whatever [the horse] gets. I did that three years ago, and the horse run behind the gate.”
In the 2023 edition, Toscani and trainer Desiree Jones sent two horses into the Mohawk Million: filly Tactical Strike, who set the pace for driver Toscani, only to make a break late in the mile and finish eighth, ahead of fellow breakers Emoji Hanover (ninth) and Drawn Impression (tenth). His colt Top Mast finished fourth for driver Travis Cullen.
“It’s a good race; I think the way they are doing it now is better,” said Toscani, referring to the lowered cost of Mohawk Million slots and the elimination of the slot originally awarded to the winner of the Grade 1 William Wellwood Memorial Stake. He noted that he would have liked it better if the original Mohawk Million slot buyers, such as himself and Godin, were given priority over new participants.
“At least the first year, to give the people that supported the race a shot at it, that would’ve been more fair… For three years, I put in $500,000 for slots to support it,” he said. “Me and Serge [Godin] talked about it. We didn’t think it was really fair.”
Determination and Toscani each purchased two $100,000 (Can.) slots apiece for the 2023 Mohawk Million.
Toscani said he wasn’t able to use his 2024 Mohawk Million slot. He had gotten a $50,000 (Can.) slot in the draw, but said he had hoped for early backers of the race to be offered first option instead.
“You get lots of bad luck in horse racing,” said Toscani. “I sold him [Godin] mine, because I didn’t have a horse last year, but that’s not the point. The point is, give the people who supported the race a chance first. It’s too late now. That was supposed to be done the first year. Just tell them, ‘This year, you have a spot because you supported us, but moving forward, this is what we’re doing…’”
Toscani said he had no hard feelings about the decision, moving forward, and would continue to support the race.
“I always buy a few babies, yearlings, mostly trotters,” he said. “It’s the [best] place to race in Canada, but not all horses can go fast enough to race at Mohawk… Some of the babies didn’t make it [to race there] this year; they had a few hiccups.”
As for the removal of the William Wellwood Memorial as a golden ticket to the Mohawk Million, Toscani was in favor.
“I’m happy that it’s gone,” he said. “If you noticed, since they took that slot away, they have less horses nominated to the Wellwood. There were two [elimination] divisions of seven or eight horses each this year… For a lot of Americans, there was no incentive to keep them eligible to this race.”
On Saturday (Aug. 23), Tactical Landing colt Ardonne and driver Scott Zeron captured the $485,000 (Can.) Wellwood final in 1:52.4, matching the stakes record. Toscani said he thought that Ardonne’s connections (owner Philip Steinberg of Weston, FL and trainer Megan Scran) might be among those taking a serious look at his Mohawk Million slot on onGait.com. Bidding was set to remain open until 1 p.m. (Eastern) on Thursday (Aug. 28).
