The best horse doesn’t always win, and that seemed to be a theme throughout a stakes-packed Saturday night of racing at Mohawk. Market Share, the Hambletonian champion and leading money winner in North America, endured a long overland trip, but couldn’t catch a determined Little Brown Fox in one of two $40,000 elimination heats for the $1 million Canadian Trotting Classic. The final is slated for Sept. 15. In this case, Little Brown Fox was quicker to the front early for driver Yannick Gingras. When Prestidigitator made a move before the half, Gingras allowed that one to cross over. The pace was swift, with quarter times of 27 2/5 seconds, 56 1/5, and 1:24 leading the field into the stretch. From that point, Little Brown Fox, trained by Jimmy Takter, overtook the pacesetter and held a safe advantage for much of the stretch. Market Share started from post 9 in the field, and driver Tim Tetrick wasn’t eager to get him going early. The colt lingered on the outside without the benefit of cover for most of the mile, but kicked into gear in the late stages and was moving quickest at the wire. He narrowed in on the winner, but fell a head short late. Gingras noted the changes made to Little Brown Fox in his post-race critique. “They put an ear hood on him, and I think that definitely helped him stay a little more quiet,” Gingras said. In the other Canadian Trotting Classic eliminations, Knows Nothing was used getting the lead well past the quarter, yielded almost immediately to a quick burst by Gym Tan Laundry and then moved out in early stretch under a very confident drive by Jody Jamieson. What Jamieson and the rest of the 3-5 backers didn’t know at that point was that Gym Tan Laundry was not out of gas. Despite being a critical part of the 27 4/5, 55 2/5, and 1:23 3/5 splits, Gym Tan Laundry was still trotting strongly in the stretch. Both Knows Nothing and Gym Tan Laundry were locked in a bitter dispute right to the wire, with Knows Nothing just edging his determined rival in the final stride. Always colorful Jamieson put his drive in perspective, “A lot of times, it is driver error or driver genius, and tonight it was driver error. I didn’t give [Gym Tan Laundry] a lot of credit, but he sure gave me all I could handle tonight,” Jamieson said. Despite finishing second and being unable to pick their post, the connections of Market Share drew the rail for the $1 million Canadian Trotting Classic final. He’ll be followed from the rail out by Solvato, Little Brown Fox, Knows Nothing, Money On My Mind, Gym Tan Laundry, My MVP, Guccio, Prestidigitator, and Appomattox. The second tier was the undoing of two top horses in other stakes action on the Mohawk program. Panther Hanover surprised both Michaels Power and A Rocknroll Dance in capturing the $252,521 Simcoe Stakes for 3-year-old colt pacers. The winner of the New Jersey Classic on Aug. 4 at the Meadowlands in 1:47 2/5 was clearly not himself when Sylvain Filion was unable to drive him in the Confederation Cup last month. Following some time to freshen up, Panther Hanover took advantage of his position in the first tier by blasting to the top in a 25 4/5 opening quarter. Filion was quite willing to allow Michaels Power to move to control, and that colt led the field through the half in 53 2/5 and three-quarters in a rated 1:21 4/5. In the meantime, division leader A Rocknroll Dance was in all kinds of trouble starting from the second tier in post 12. Gingras seemed to be pinned down with no racing room and Dapper Dude to his flank. Somehow, Gingras was able to get A Rocknroll Dance to the outside by the half, and the colt made a spirited move on the rim and was able to overtake the pacesetter into the stretch. Yet much like the Cane Pace just five days earlier, A Rocknroll Dance won one battle but lost the war, this time finishing second as Filion angled Panther Hanover off the rail and flew by the leaders in a 1:49 1/5 mile. The James “Friday” Dean trainee was sent off as a 9-1 outsider in the field. The second tier proved too difficult to overcome for Shes A Great Lady winner I Luv The Nitelife as the tables were turned in the $226,763 Champlain Stakes. L Dees Lioness, second to I Luv The Nitelife in the Shes A Great Lady, controlled a very soft opening half with fractions of 28 1/5 and 56 4/5. That gave driver Scott Zeron all the ammunition he needed for the final half sprint. While I Luv The Nitelife’s driver, Jack Moiseyev, relished the idea of racing his filly “off a helmet” that didn’t work out exactly as his filly raced the final half without cover much of the way and fell a head short in the 1:51 4/5 mile. Trained by Casie Coleman, L Dees Lioness avenged her defeat in the Shes A Great Lady as the 2-1 second betting choice. Odds On Equuleus, the 3-10 favorite in the $261,829 Champlain for freshman pacing colts didn’t have the second tier to contend with. What he did have to deal with was a weak cover trip and a pair of anxious front-end rivals. Captive Audience shocked this group for driver Andy Miller at odds of 44-1. Captive Audience had previously been racing from off the pace and did manage a third-place finish behind eventual Metro Stakes winner Captaintreacherous in a Metro elimination. In his first six races, Captive Audience raced exclusively from behind, but Miller elected to change the strategy, and it paid off handsomely with a career-best 1:50 2/5 clocking. Rockin Amadeus was just a neck back in second after cutting much of the pace, with Odds On Equuleus closing late for third.