The 2026 edition of the John Brennan Trotting Series commenced on Wednesday, April 1 at MGM Yonkers Raceway with a pair of $41,667 divisions won by Top Gun Hanover and Always A Story.

The John Brennan Trotting Series is named in honour of the longtime Standardbred Owners Association of New York horsemen's representative who passed away from complications of COVID-19 in March 2020.

In the opening division, Top Gun Hanover, driven by Jason Bartlett, moved up two-wide to take the lead away from Pierre In Paris (Yannick Gingras) past the :28.2 quarter and continued on the point to the :57.2 half and the 1:26.1 three-quarters as Green Mel (Tyler Buter) advanced out of third while the field raced in the backstretch for the final time.

Green Mel trotted on even terms with Top Gun Hanover on the final bend, but once they straightened up in the lane, Top Gun Hanover kicked away and went on to prevail by a length and a half in 1:54.3. Green Mel had to settle for second, followed by Pierre In Paris.

A four-year-old son of Walner out of Think Twice, Top Gun Hanover is trained by Per Engblom for owners E Five Racing of Boca Raton, Florida and John Fielding of Scarborough, Ont. Now four-for-five on the year, Top Gun Hanover improved his lifetime record to 9-7-0 in 29 career starts and increased his earnings to $278,478. He completed a training triple on the nine-race card for Engblom.

Top Gun Hanover paid $3.48 to win as the favourite and led a $10.84 exacta and a $37.34 trifecta.

Bartlett and Engblom went for the sweep with 2-5 choice Zenmeister S in the second flight, as the favourite followed Kazio DK (Gingras) to the quarter in :28.3 and the half in :57.4 before Bartlett guided him to the outside on the way to the 1:26.4 three-quarters. Kazio DK was able to thwart Zenmeister S's bid initially, but then Kazio DK made a break on the last turn, which put Zenmeister S on the lead and Always A Story, who had been positioned second-over by Tyler Buter, in the first-up position.

Zenmeister S spun into the lane on a clear lead and looked to see it out, but Always A Story had plenty of trot to the wire and was able to get around Zenmeister S in time, defeating him by a head in 1:55.1. Alimony Mike (Matt Kakaley) finished in the third position.

Jared Bako trains Always A Story, a four-year-old Chapter Seven-Danica Hall mare, for owners Kap Singh Racing Stable of Yorktown Heights, New York and Earl Hill Jr. of Ohsweken, Ont. Always A Story has been top two in four of her six starts this season, with two wins. She now has 10 career victories, seven seconds and six thirds from 38 trips behind the gate and has pocketed $177,361.

 Always A Story returned $6.90 to win as the 2-1 second choice. She was atop a $14.64 exacta and a $48.46 trifecta.

This year's John Brennan Trotting Series has two more prelims on April 8 and 15 prior to the $100,000 USD (guaranteed) final and $50,000 USD (guaranteed) consolation on April 22. After being contested at the distance of a mile and a quarter in 2025, the final and consolation will go back to the standard mile distance this year.

Stakes action continues at Yonkers on Friday, April 3 and Monday, April 6 with the second legs of the MGM Ursula McIntyre Pacing Series and the MGM Borgata Pacing Series, both of which have four $50,000 USD splits. The four opening round winners in the McIntyre -- Louies Girl N, Seaside Diva, Tick A Loch A and Coastal Babe N -- drew into separate races on Friday and will all therefore have a chance to improve to two-for-two. Meanwhile, in the Borgata, two of the first leg winners -- Donegal Luther N and Chase H Hanover -- will meet up in the last section (race seven).

Yonkers is currently operating on a Monday through Friday live racing schedule with post time each night at 6:45 p.m.

(With files from Yonkers Raceway; photo of Top Gun Hanover winning on April 1)