Mohawk: Hurricane Beach, Macs Jackpot strike in Somebeachsomewhere splits

The two C$70,000 Somebeachsomewhere divisions for 3-year-old colt pacers on Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack looked wide-open on paper, and they played out that way on the track, with 6-1 Hurricane Beach and 42-1 Macs Jackpot picking up victories.

Hurricane Beach (Louis-Philippe Roy), who had just broken his maiden on May 18, won the first split in 1:50 3/5 after he led the field of 11 through panels of 26 3/5, 55, and 1:22 1/5. He defeated Lawrencetown Beach (Paul MacDonell) by four lengths, with Sports Column (Chris Christoforou) third after a pocket trip.

"We trained him with different equipment a few days ago and he was too grabby, so he put back the equipment he had before," offered Roy. "I was pleased how he raced tonight. I could relax in the second quarter and then he was gone."

Luc Blais trains Hurricane Beach, a gelded son of the stake's namesake, for owner Determination. This was Hurricane Beach's second win, and he has now earned C$47,180. He paid $14.40 to win.

The other section was much more eventful than the first one, with Macs Jackpot coming from out of the clouds late to snag a 1:51 4/5 victory. 2-1 second choice Richard Hill (Doug McNair) did most of the work up front, taking over just past the 26 3/5 opening quarter and then reaching the half in 54 3/5 and the three-quarters in 1:22 1/5.

In the stretch Frontier Seelster (Jody Jamieson) angled out of the pocket to take a run at Richard Hill, and although that bid stalled, it was readily apparent both the top two were just waiting to get picked off by the closers, and get picked off they did, with both Stealth Bomber (Brett Miller), who was sixth at three-quarters, and Macs Jackpot (David Miller), who had been positioned eighth with a quarter to go, coming on best of all. At the wire it was Macs Jackpot who got the nod by a neck over Stealth Bomber, with Richard Hill back in third.

"We had planned on trying to get him into the race, but with the big field a lot of guys were taking shots," said David Miller. "He ended up like fourth-over; he was out the whole way. He was just kinda feeling pretty comfortable until the last turn, and then actually he did get interested. He finished it off good."

Macs Jackpot, another gelding by Somebeachsomewhere, for owner/breeder Jeff Snyder. Macs Jackpot is now a six-time career winner, and he has banked C$169,031. He returned $86.30 to win.