Woodbine Mohawk Park: 2021 Mohawk Million truly a North American melting pot

The second Mohawk Million, scheduled for Saturday night, is a victory for the breed before the horses go behind the gate. In spite of a rocky start that began during the pandemic-ridden 2020 debut, the Mohawk Million's follow-up field of 10 at Woodbine Mohawk Park suggests not only that the sport has gotten it right, but the quality and quantity of the best freshmen the sport has to offer arrives from various locales once thought to be far removed from elite status.

Though breeders tend to focus on six- and seven-figure yearlings to define where champions come from, it has become crystal clear that bloodlines run much deeper than the current page, and that new stallions can emerge not just from traditional strongholds but from budding programs as well.

The presence of Indiana and Ohio-based stallions on the top half of two pedigrees in Saturday's contest are more an indication of the change in perspective among owners and trainers of trotting fillies, colts and geldings. In years past, those regional programs essentially played by their own rules for their own horsemen and hardly reached out beyond state lines for competition. Though we've seen many excel in North America after their freshman and sophomore campaigns, there was little impetus for them to travel too far when the odds were firmly stacked against them.

That What The Hill and Dover Dan, both in their first year at stud, could provide the Mohawk Million with a pair of entrants in The Mighty Hill and Dover In Motion, respectively, suggests that progress in those regional programs has come so quickly that horsemen are no longer at risk leaving the state or country for bigger game. It also suggests that the traditional proving grounds for speed and class the industry relied on in the past (Pennsylvania and New Jersey) are no longer above the rest. That Pennsylvania is not even represented among the 10 finalists for the Mohawk Million is probably an aberration, but it certainly shouldn't diminish what has happened positively in both Ohio and Indiana in the last five years.

As one might expect, there are three from the first crop of Walner that dominate the field, including two of the probable favorites in multiple stakes winners King Of The North and Venerable. Win or lose, Walner's stallion stature is only likely to grow over the coming years as the sport is always in search of the next "great" sire, as opposed to a broad spectrum of sires that work effectively with a great cast of broodmares. In Walner's case, that great cast of broodmares was thrust on him in numbers in his first year as a stallion with this year's stars emanating from the champion Check Me Out, as well as the proven stakes performer and broodmare Jolene Jolene.

To not credit the dam's side would again be missing the entire picture of where the trotting sport is in 2021. Clearly with four of the 10 horses comprising the Mohawk Million field being fillies, it appears as if the term "weaker" sex no longer applies. For those who have watched and witnessed the enormous speed and staying power of Atlanta and Manchego will attest, it is no longer a given that fillies or mares need to take a back seat in this sport. That 2-year-old fillies are on equal or advanced footing may be a new phenomenon brought out perfectly by the presence of a Mohawk Million that last year showcased a brilliant filly in Donna Soprano, and this year appears to have a stronger cast of characters.

The Mohawk Million brings a vast collection of the sport's best regional programs into focus. Ontario-based performers clearly have a home-field advantage, if you will, with experience over the track a key issue in setting up a horse for peak performance. The Ontario Sires Stakes program has always been strong and has played a key role in North American trotting power for many years. Improving the breed comes with changes, as bloodlines continue to be refined and families expand through additional outcrosses. Stallions like Wheeling N Dealin (Star Power Hanover) and Muscle Mass (Mischievous Rose) offer next-generation pedigrees capable of waking up many a dormant family tree.

While in traditional ways Kentucky has been left out of the typical stallion analysis, two of Saturday's leading players found their footing at The Red Mile over the summer competing in the Kentucky championships. Given its current place as a dual-state home to race for horses not necessarily by Kentucky stallions but raised in the Bluegrass, Kentucky's program this summer has been vital for horses with International pedigrees as well. Last year's Mohawk Million champion Venerate, a son of the French stallion Love You, first captured the Kentucky championship at The Red Mile last year before his ship to Ontario and Mohawk Million fame came along. Hoping in some ways to follow that path will be Selfie Queen, who last Sunday captured the $250,000 final at The Red Mile for freshman fillies. With Muscle Hill as her sire she needs no introduction, but her 1:51 2/5 career-best clocking makes her the fastest freshman of the year regardless of sex. She will join the unbeaten Venerable (Walner) as the two fillies with immense power, though both were handicapped by the draw. Venerable will start from post nine, while Selfie Queen drew post 10.

Muscle Hill's son Resolve has a solid first crop in Ontario led by Duly Resolved, who recently was a solid second in the Wellwood Memorial, and much like the two fillies referenced above, got no favors after landing post eight for the Mohawk Million.

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Chapter Seven's stature continues to build in New York, and the filly Valentina Blu (post four) may appear overmatched in the field, but she should not be overlooked. Her recent second-place finish in the New York Sire Stakes championship at Yonkers was visually more impressive when you consider the ground she sacrificed on the final turn and her resilience finishing her mile while chasing Joviality S in a record-setting mile. Her driver Andrew McCarthy sprung the upset last year behind Venerate.

In just its second year the Mohawk Million has lured a wide array of talent from programs near and far to Woodbine Mohawk Park. Here's hoping the breadth of trotting talent continues to expand, offering more horsemen a chance at the spotlight.