The morning line favorite in the race is Lather Up at 2-1 with Stay Hungry at 5/2.
My early selection for the NA cup is STAY HUNGRY. He scored his winning mile off pace third over off the slowest pace in the three NA Cup elims. As a 2 yr old Stay Hungry was a class act having won 6 of his 9 races raking in 557 grand compared to Lather up's 74000 with just 4 wins. Class counts in horse racing. Remember that. Here is Stay Hungry's to date resume.
http://trackit.standardbredcanada.ca/?op=QRAP&id=637481
The biggest race of Lather Up's career was the Matron2CP on Nov 9 2017 in which he finished 7th. Here is his resume
http://trackit.standardbredcanada.ca/?op=QRAP&id=636975
There is no comparison between the two horses folks class wise.
Stay Hungry traveled an outstanding 5404 feet in winning his elimination compared to a lowly 5358 feet by Lather UP in his 2 hole trip winning effort. A difference of 46 feet. The hooked wheels incident did help him a lot I might add but not sure if without it could have prevented LU from the winners circle given the cozy 2 hole trip on a slow pace.
This race reminds me a whole lot of the 2015 NA cup in which Wakizashi Hanover upset WIJI the hot favorite in the race.
May the best horse win the race.