Harnessing some attention
North America Cup often viewed as mere opener for Queen's Plate
By ROB LONGLEY -- Toronto Sun
When it was created 20 years ago, the North America Cup was meant to give Canadian harness horses the main stage, at least for a night.
Not, as it has become in the eyes of some, the opening act for their blue-blooded cousins in the Queen's Plate.
No doubt, the intentions were good five years ago -- uniting the Cup and the Plate in Woodbine's Festival of Racing.
The concept was to punch all of horse racing into the mainstream of the sporting consciousness for one week, celebrating both breeds with their signature races.
The reality has been far less rewarding for the sulky side of the Woodbine Entertainment Group, taking some shine off what is as legitimate big event in its own right.
This Saturday night at Woodbine, 10 of the top three-year-old pacers in North America will compete for a whopping $1.5-million purse.
The four elimination winners from last week all appear to be worthy contenders and chances are there will be another heart-stopping finish.
Unfortunately, not enough people outside of the participants in the harness game and those who bet on them will be aware. Or care.
The reason is that some 19 hours later the Queen's Plate will go to the post and the buildup to the opening jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown always will get top billing.
As a marketing tool for Woodbine, marrying the two marquee races works. As a promotion for the Cup and the other breed, it does not.
"There's no doubt we don't get the recognition, we get lost in the shuffle," Jim Whelan, president of the Ontario Harness Horse Association, said.
"Here we have a race with a $1.5-million purse that could easily stand by itself. The way it is now, we get buried."
Ask a casual sports fan what the Queen's Plate is and odds are better than even money he or she will know.
Ask what sport the North America Cup is awarded in and book the bet that you will be met with a blank stare.
Unfair or not, placing the Cup in the shadow of the Plate reinforces the old stigma that the standardbreds are second-class citizens.
In fairness, Woodbine management has done a number of things to help boost the prominence of the harness game.
When Greenwood Raceway was closed in 1993, to the shock of the old-school thoroughbred faction, a standardbred track was constructed at Woodbine. The late E.P. Taylor, who built Woodbine, is still spinning six feet under from that one.
More recently, the company changed its name from the Ontario Jockey Club, with its elitist thoroughbred implications, to the Woodbine Entertainment Group.
Hugh Mitchell, who has strong ties to standardbreds, was promoted to become WEG's senior racing official.
WEG has supported the race too, landing Pepsi as a sponsor and helping the purse rise to $1.5 million, half a mil more than the Plate.
But when the Cup was created in 1983, the mandate was to give harness racing a stand-alone, marquee equivalent to the Plate, not a sideshow.
"I understand there is a bit of a balancing act weighing the strengths and weaknesses of the initiative," Mitchell said. "For now, we're comfortable the way it sits which is not to say it will be that way forever."
If WEG ever does consider a change, there is a painless solution. Why not have the North America Cup final raced a week earlier as a kickoff to the Festival of Racing?
That way, the standardbreds get a much deserved solo gig while still being part of the bigger show.
Win-win at the track is always good.
It may not have 144 years of history on its side like the Plate, but, coming up to 20, the North America Cup is off to a good start and deserves a different kind of royal treatment.
