by Melissa Keith

“Horses for courses” is an expression conveying that individuals perform best in settings that favor their strengths. Points North (p, 6, 1:49.2s; $825,434) has illustrated the concept at Woodbine Mohawk Park ever since Aug. 6, 2019, when he won his first qualifier at the Campbellville, ON track. He also won his Mohawk pari-mutuel debut, prevailing in 1:52.2 for Trevor Henry on Aug. 22, 2019.

Although he did not become a Mohawk regular until Dec. 21 of that year, the then 4-year-old pacer soon rose through the ranks for trainer Carmen Auciello, winning his first two tries in 2020 and first joining the preferred handicap on Jan. 18, 2020, finishing second to Sintra.

Since then, Points North has been a constant at Mohawk. Now 10, the gritty gelding reached $1 million (Canadian) in career earnings on Feb. 1, 2025, winning that Saturday night for driver Jonathan Drury.

After reaching the earnings milestone, Auciello told interviewer Peter Gross that Points North had been overdue for Canadian millionaire status.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Auciello said. “He was about 1,200 bucks away from a million for the longest time. We knew he’d do it eventually, but it was nice to do it with a win. I knew he fit the bottom class, and I wanted to qualify him three times, just to make sure he was ready to win, and it worked out.”

Points North began his racing career as a 2-year-old at The Meadowlands, racing for trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman. The son of Somebeachsomewhere—Northwest Hanover recorded his maiden victory at Harrah’s Philly for driver Andrew McCarthy on Aug. 20, 2017, beating a field of seven other 2-year-old male pacers in 1:53.4. It was Points North’s fifth lifetime start in a career that would span 228 starts as of Feb. 22, 2025.

Recently owned by Jim Winske of Marlborough, MA, and David Winske of Hudson, MA, the now 10-year-old gelding changed hands last Monday (Feb. 17) in a Preferred Equine Online Mixed Sale.

Jim had originally purchased the pacer in another Preferred Equine Online sale, back on April 11, 2022, when Points North became one of the highest-priced horses ever sold on the site at that time, bringing the sale’s top bid of $140,000. He had been consigned by Preferred Equine Online, LLC. as agent for Aaron Waxman. Bidding started at $50,000 but quickly escalated, as he drew 42 bids before going to Winske.

“When I first bought Points North, we did plan to race him in the U.S. He did race and win a few opens at Plainridge Park then we sent him back to Carmine to race in Canada,” said Jim.

In the latest Preferred online auction, the gelding sold for $18,000 to Mark Beckwith of Wilton, NY, marking a return to the stable which had briefly campaigned him between April 25, 2022 and Aug. 29, 2022. Points North was then trained by Melissa Beckwith, Mark’s wife, who shared ownership of the horse with Jim and David Winske at the time. 

In fact, Points North is not moving on to new owners, but circling southbound to where he began for the Winskes.

“We decided to sell Points North if he brought a decent price, but since he only brought $18,000, we bought him back and the plan is to race him in the USA,” Jim said on Saturday (Feb. 22).

Points North made just 12 U.S. starts for Beckwith, competing at Plainridge Park and Saratoga Harness and winning three winners-over $10,000 events at the Massachusetts track. In Sept. 2022, Points North was pointed back towards Campbellville, ON, and the Auciello stable, where he would spend the next two and a half years.

“We’ve had this horse a long time,” Auciello told Gross. “He was sold once, and then actually sent back to me to train again.”

The Stouffville, ON, trainer estimated that Points North had made a total of 180 starts for him, winning 36 of them, including the 2020 Canadian Pacing Derby consolation, in which he edged out favorite Western Joe by a nose. Points North has never raced in a claiming race.

“He was always good enough, when he was at his best, especially, he won the preferred a handful of times, but he was always good enough to get up there, make it to the preferred, and then we’d always go a couple of starts, you know, finishing fourth or fifth, or third and work some money off the card, and then work his way down in the conditions,” Auciello said. “Then once he got to the bottom, he would always be good for a couple of wins, and then work his way back up. When you have a horse with that ability… you’re never forced to put them in claimers, because they’re always constantly making money. He tries his heart out every week, and we’ve never had to worry about it.”

Auciello said with a laugh that the prestige of becoming a Mohawk millionaire didn’t do much to raise Points North’s stateside profile in the latest online sale.

“It’s one of those things too: In Canadian dollars, he’s over a million, but the second he goes back to the U.S., it’s 825 [thousand dollars] American, so that kind of sucks, but as long as we keep him in Canada for the rest of his life, then it’s okay,” he said.

Points North was last entered at Mohawk on Saturday (Feb. 15), a card which ended up canceled due to expected heavy snowfall. His most recent start was Feb. 8, when he finished eighth in a field of 10 NW8500L5 conditioned pacers. He tired after an overland trip for driver Jean-Rene Plante.

Although yet to make a start since being sold to Mark Beckwith, trainer Melissa Beckwith’s horses have been competing primarily at Saratoga this year, occasionally venturing to Yonkers or The Meadowlands. Her son, Brett Beckwith, frequently drives. He was voted the 2024 USHWA Dan Patch Rising Star Award winner in just his fourth season of regular driving.

Before Points North’s latest sale, Auciello declared him to be a fit, durable warhorses throughout their time together.

“When they’re sound and healthy and they’re nice animals, they can pile up a lot of money,” he told Gross, predicting that the horse had “one more good year left in him” on the track.

Jim said he will miss Points North’s time at Mohawk, but times have changed, leading to difficult decisions. “Racing him at Mohawk was a great experience, but there seems to be more options for him in the U.S. right now and the purse money is much better because of the exchange rates,” he said. 

Current political tensions between the United States and Canada did not influence the choice to bring his horse back home.

“I have been racing horses for over 50 years and have many contacts in Canada, where it’s always a pleasure to race,” said Jim.

When Points North makes his American return to racing, he will lack the earnings milestone earned at his former home track. What he will not lack is back class. As Auciello noted in his latest interview about Points North, “Any horse who makes a million dollars is a damn nice horse.”

Recently owned by Jim Winske of Marlborough, MA, and David Winske of Hudson, MA, the now 10-year-old gelding changed hands last Monday (Feb. 17) in a Preferred Equine Online Mixed Sale.

Jim had originally purchased the pacer in another Preferred Equine Online sale, back on April 11, 2022, when Points North became one of the highest-priced horses ever sold on the site at that time, bringing the sale’s top bid of $140,000. He had been consigned by Preferred Equine Online, LLC. as agent for Aaron Waxman. Bidding started at $50,000 but quickly escalated, as he drew 42 bids before going to Winske.

“When I first bought Points North, we did plan to race him in the U.S. He did race and win a few opens at Plainridge Park then we sent him back to Carmine to race in Canada,” said Jim.

In the latest Preferred online auction, the gelding sold for $18,000 to Mark Beckwith of Wilton, NY, marking a return to the stable which had briefly campaigned him between April 25, 2022 and Aug. 29, 2022. Points North was then trained by Melissa Beckwith, Mark’s wife, who shared ownership of the horse with Jim and David Winske at the time. 

In fact, Points North is not moving on to new owners, but circling southbound to where he began for the Winskes.

“We decided to sell Points North if he brought a decent price, but since he only brought $18,000, we bought him back and the plan is to race him in the USA,” Jim said on Saturday (Feb. 22).

Points North made just 12 U.S. starts for Beckwith, competing at Plainridge Park and Saratoga Harness and winning three winners-over $10,000 events at the Massachusetts track. In Sept. 2022, Points North was pointed back towards Campbellville, ON, and the Auciello stable, where he would spend the next two and a half years.

“We’ve had this horse a long time,” Auciello told Gross. “He was sold once, and then actually sent back to me to train again.”

The Stouffville, ON, trainer estimated that Points North had made a total of 180 starts for him, winning 36 of them, including the 2020 Canadian Pacing Derby consolation, in which he edged out favorite Western Joe by a nose. Points North has never raced in a claiming race.

“He was always good enough, when he was at his best, especially, he won the preferred a handful of times, but he was always good enough to get up there, make it to the preferred, and then we’d always go a couple of starts, you know, finishing fourth or fifth, or third and work some money off the card, and then work his way down in the conditions,” Auciello said. “Then once he got to the bottom, he would always be good for a couple of wins, and then work his way back up. When you have a horse with that ability… you’re never forced to put them in claimers, because they’re always constantly making money. He tries his heart out every week, and we’ve never had to worry about it.”

Auciello said with a laugh that the prestige of becoming a Mohawk millionaire didn’t do much to raise Points North’s stateside profile in the latest online sale.

“It’s one of those things too: In Canadian dollars, he’s over a million, but the second he goes back to the U.S., it’s 825 [thousand dollars] American, so that kind of sucks, but as long as we keep him in Canada for the rest of his life, then it’s okay,” he said.

Points North was last entered at Mohawk on Saturday (Feb. 15), a card which ended up canceled due to expected heavy snowfall. His most recent start was Feb. 8, when he finished eighth in a field of 10 NW8500L5 conditioned pacers. He tired after an overland trip for driver Jean-Rene Plante.

Although yet to make a start since being sold to Mark Beckwith, trainer Melissa Beckwith’s horses have been competing primarily at Saratoga this year, occasionally venturing to Yonkers or The Meadowlands. Her son, Brett Beckwith, frequently drives. He was voted the 2024 USHWA Dan Patch Rising Star Award winner in just his fourth season of regular driving.

Before Points North’s latest sale, Auciello declared him to be a fit, durable warhorses throughout their time together.

“When they’re sound and healthy and they’re nice animals, they can pile up a lot of money,” he told Gross, predicting that the horse had “one more good year left in him” on the track.

Jim said he will miss Points North’s time at Mohawk, but times have changed, leading to difficult decisions. “Racing him at Mohawk was a great experience, but there seems to be more options for him in the U.S. right now and the purse money is much better because of the exchange rates,” he said. 

Current political tensions between the United States and Canada did not influence the choice to bring his horse back home.

“I have been racing horses for over 50 years and have many contacts in Canada, where it’s always a pleasure to race,” said Jim.

When Points North makes his American return to racing, he will lack the earnings milestone earned at his former home track. What he will not lack is back class. As Auciello noted in his latest interview about Points North, “Any horse who makes a million dollars is a damn nice horse.”

DROP QUOTES:

“Racing him at Mohawk was a great experience, but there seems to be more options for him in the U.S. right now and the purse money is much better because of the exchange rates. [But] I have been racing horses for over 50 years and have many contacts in Canada, where it’s always a pleasure to race.”

— Jim Winske

“[Points North hitting the million-dollar milestone has] been a long time coming. He was about 1,200 bucks away from a million for the longest time. We knew he’d do it eventually, but it was nice to do it with a win. I knew he fit the bottom class, and I wanted to qualify him three times, just to make sure he was ready to win, and it worked out.”

— Carmen Auciello