Seeking the sweet spot for a Mohawk Million slot
by Melissa Keith
The Mohawk Million (Grade 1) is a relatively new addition to the Grand Circuit stakes calendar, making its debut in 2020. In the six editions that have been raced, winners have gone on to divisional titles the same year: Venerate (2020 Dan Patch 2-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year); Venerable (2021 Dan Patch and O’Brien 2-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year); T C I (2023 O’Brien 2-Year-Old Trotting Colt); Maryland (2024 Dan Patch and O’Brien 2-Year-Old Trotting Colt); and Apex (2025 Dan Patch 2-Year-Old Trotting Colt).
The unique format for the race makes each chance to enter a coveted rarity. This year, Mohawk Million slots increased in price from $50,000 to $60,000 each. Woodbine Entertainment’s vice-president standardbred racing Bill McLinchey said that the higher price reflected strong demand, but also a continual calibration in response to what horse owners want.
“Each year after we have the event, we take a look at it and see what could be tweaked, what worked, what didn’t work, and a few years ago it was evident that the $100,000 was too much for the slot price,” he said. “So, we thought that lowering the slot price would certainly help broaden the field that would be interested in purchasing [slots], and it certainly did achieve that.”
Demand quickly outpaced (out-trotted?) supply of slots for the 10-horse Mohawk Million.
“We got looking, and with over 20 people wishing to purchase the first year and then over 30 [people] the second year at $50,000 [per slot], we thought there might be a little room to bump that price up a little bit, and just see if that worked,” McLinchey said. “We thought that lined up a little better. We knew a 100 [thousand dollars] was too much, and maybe with 50, there was a little room for growth there.”
The Tuesday (Feb. 17) deadline to apply for 2026 Mohawk Million slots will be the test of whether the new price represents the sweet spot for pricing.
“It’s great to have over 30 people wishing to purchase, but when you have that draw for 10 slots, it sends quite a few people home disappointed,” he said. “It’s a prestigious race. It’s a unique race with a unique format, and… just keeping it in line with what people are valuing those slots at, that’s what we’re aiming for.”
Last year, a $50,000 slot purchased by trainer Casie Coleman, then transferred to owner/driver Gino Toscani, was ultimately re-sold on the onGait digital platform. Toscani had expressed frustration that lower-priced slots had attracted a record number (21) of applicants in 2024, leading to some original supporters of the Mohawk Million, who paid $110,000 for each of nine available slots in the 2020 edition, being shut out. Toscani bought two slots at $100,000 apiece for the 2021 Mohawk Million. A 10th slot went to the winner of the William Wellwood Stake in the early editions.
McLinchey was “not necessarily” surprised to see the 2025 slot advertised online.
“I had heard that one of the previous years it had been tossed around that one might be on onGait, and onGait seems to be the best way to find out the value of your horse, so it only made sense to find out the value of your slot,” he said.
It ended up being bought by Dark Horse Farm Llc of Vienna, OH and used by 52-1 longshot Silverstein, who finished third to Apex.
Trainer Matthew Burkholder accompanied Silverstein to Campbellville, ON for the big race last September. It was Silverstein’s only seasonal start outside of Kentucky, and Burkholder’s first and only trip to Canada in his nine-year career.
“We thought [Silverstein] was second to Endurance so much and chasing him all the time, and we thought he deserved a shot,” Burkholder said before the race. “It all worked out I guess. The spot was on onGait and we talked about it… We raced two or three times while it was on there, and then he came home in :26.3 at The Red Mile… and it became a real conversation.”
He described Mohawk as a “very nice” track to visit.
As of Jan. 30, McLinchey had already heard from owners and trainers expressing interest in this year’s Mohawk Million slots.
“Once February comes around and there’s only two weeks until that deadline, I expect a good number of people to be reaching out,” he said. “Certainly, some repeat customers, and even some new people again.”
Europe remains a tougher market to break into with the Mohawk Million, although owners like Courant AB (based in Sweden, France, Canada, and the U.S.) and Kempii Stable Inc. (based in Finland, the U.S., and Sweden) have purchased slots in previous years. Inaugural champion Venerate was sired by French stallion Love You, and bred by Steve Stewart and Kemppi Stable of Paris, KY.
“I would say [there has been] maybe not as much [European interest] as we may have thought there would be, but at the same time, they seem to be landing in the race, so they may be using that approach of, ‘We’ll wait and see if we have one good enough for it, and we’ll find a way into the race,’” said McLinchey.
Venerate’s slot was famously purchased from original buyer Brad Grant of Milton, ON as the Mohawk Million approached.
“I think everyone has an idea, an approach of how they want to go about it,” McLinchey said. “Some think they’ve got a 2-year-old that’s training down really well right now and they want to make sure they have a slot and not leave anything to chance, and then others are more of the ‘we’ll wait and see’ [approach], and come August or early September if [they] have a horse that’s contending at the highest level, then [they will] make a deal.”
What the Mohawk Million lacks in tradition, it more than compensates for with quality.
“It’s a young race and it’s actually what you’d call really new in our business, so to have the traction that it’s gotten, we were really proud of the fields that were put together,” said McLinchey. “We can’t take any credit for putting that [2025] field together. That was the slot owners, and it was as deep a field of 2-year-old trotters as I think I’ve seen. If that happened again this year, we’d be really happy.”
February 17 is the deadline to pay into all major stakes at Mohawk this season. The 2026 Mohawk Million is slated for Sept. 26 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
