A Million Reasons to Watch: Deep Field Set for Mohawk Million Showdown

September 17, 2025

MILTON, September 17, 2025 – The Grade 1 Mohawk Million is set for its sixth edition this Saturday with what on paper is the deepest field the race has ever seen.

The old saying of “they race them on the track, not paper” is true, but a quick glance at the entries for the 2025 Mohawk Million provides hopes for an epic two-year-old trot battle at the Campbellville oval.

In recent years, prominent Sires Stakes programs have limited the meeting of the sport’s best until later in the season. This year’s Million will bring together champions and leaders from five jurisdictions (Ontario, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Kentucky).

The path to the Mohawk Million started several months ago when the deadline to apply for one of 10 $50,000 slots passed in mid-February. From there, a draw was held in March to determine the slot owners from 37 parties that applied. Those lucky to be selected in the draw were left with options – race, sell, trade or lease.

When the final entries for this year’s Million were received, seven of the 10 slots had changed hands.

Below is the chart showing how each horse ended up in their slot.

Original Slot Owner	New Slot Owner	Horse
Diane Bertrand	Ake Svanstedt, Tomas Andersson, Lennart Johansson	Dublin Hanover
Kyle Northover	Ben Baillargeon, Claude Hamel, Nunzio Vena, Glengate Farms	Strobe Lite
Bruce Northover	Determination	Shimmering Hanover
Brad Grant	Phillip Steinberg	Ardonne
Casie Coleman	Dark Horse Farm LLC	Silverstein
Kempii Stable Inc.	Super Endurance Stable, Bill Manes, Leo Fleming, Mark Moger	Endurance
Allister Stable	Mazza Racing Stables LLC, Annie Stoebe	Diabolic Hill
Hunterton Farms		Apex
William Pollock		Cambridge Hanover
Bud Hatfield		AI

With the dust now settled in terms of who will compete, the focus now turns to who will prevail in the million-dollar contest.

The morning-line odds have three horses in the range of 5-2 to 7-2.

Endurance (PP6, Andrew McCarthy) is the slight 5-2 morning-line favourite. The Chris Beaver trainee has just one loss in seven starts and captured the $400,000 (USD) Kentucky Sires Stakes Championship this past Sunday in 1:52.3.

Although trained by Ohio’s Chris Beaver, Endurance will have a larger local fanbase thanks to his co-owners Bill Manes of Rockwood, Ontario and Leo Fleming of Campbellville, Ontario.

Ardonne (PP3, Scott Zeron) has already enjoyed Grade 1 success at Woodbine Mohawk Park, winning the $485,000 William Wellwood Memorial on August 23 in 1:52.4. Now riding a two-race win streak, Ardonne qualified last Friday for trainer Megan Scran and owner Phillip Steinberg in preparation for his biggest race to date.

The last loss Ardonne suffered was a runner-up finish to Apex (PP1, Dexter Dunn) in the $225,000 (USD) New Jersey Sires Stakes Final on August 2. Trained by Marcus Melander, Apex’s dominance in the Garden State also includes a victory in the $250,000 (USD) New Jersey Classic Final on September 5.

However, the biggest and most lucrative victory for Apex came last Friday in the $368,950 Grade 1 Peter Haughton Memorial at Hoosier Park, which also secured an automatic entry in the Breeders Crown.

The Haughton is the same race Apex’s stablemate Maryland won prior to winning last year’s Mohawk Million.

The talent does not drop off after the top-three on the morning-line as evident by the profiles of the other seven starters below:

Silverstein (PP2, David Miller) – most recently finished finished third in the $400,000 (USD) Kentucky Sires Stakes Championship for trainer Matthew Burkholder.

Shimmering Hanover (PP4, Louis-Philippe Roy) – the lone filly in this year’s race most recently won a division of the Champlain (G3) for trainer Luc Blais.

Cambridge Hanover (PP5, Jason Bartlett) – a $1 million yearling purchase at last year’s Harrisburg Sale for Bill Pollock, Bruce Areman and Andrew Harris.

Dublin Hanover (PP7, Ake Svanstedt) – arrives at the Mohawk Million off a four-length victory in the $300,000 (USD) Pennsylvania Sires Stakes Final.

Strobe Lite (PP8, James MacDonald) – the lone Ontario sired entrant is riding a two-race win streak with victories in the OSS Gold and Champlain (G3) for trainer Ben Baillargeon.

Diabolic Hill (PP9, Todd McCarthy) – a multiple New Jersey Sires Stakes division winner that was third in the August 2 final for trainer Annie Stoebe.

AI (PP10, Yannick Gingras) – most recently won the $300,000 (USD) New York Sires Stakes Final for trainer Ron Burke.

The stakes record for the Mohawk Million is 1:52.3, set by Maryland in last year’s event. Maryland returns to this year’s Mohawk Million card as a top contender in the $615,000 Canadian Trotting Classic (G1).

The past winners of the Mohawk Million are listed below.

Year	Horse	Driver	Trainer	Time
2024	Maryland	Dexter Dunn	Marcus Melander	1:52.3
2023	T C I	David Miller	Ron Burke	1:54.3
2022	Oh Well	Tim Tetrick	Marcus Melander	1:53.4
2021	Venerable	David Miller	R. ‘Nifty’ Norman	1:54.2
2020	Venerate	Andrew McCarthy	Julie Miller	1:53.2

The 2025 Mohawk Million is carded as Race 10 on this Saturday’s card at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

The 13-race card features five Grade 1 races – Mohawk Million, Metro Pace, Canadian Trotting Classic, Shes A Great Lady and Elegantimage. Post time is 6:35 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m.

For the latest news and information, visit Woodbine.com/Mohawk or follow @WoodbineSB and @WoodbineComms on X.

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