Prior to last year, Phil Collura had shared in the ownership of several Dan Patch Award-winning horses, but none were a trotter. Lexus Kody changed that.

Lexus Kody – owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and Collura – garnered Dan Patch Awards for best older male trotter and Trotter of the Year for his 2025 season, in which he won 11 races and earned $1.83 million. At the age of seven, he became the oldest Trotter of the Year since seven-year-old San Pail in 2011.

“It’s so hard to win these awards,” said Collura, whose previous Dan Patch honourees were pacers Sweet Lou, Warrawee Ubeaut and Louprint. “It’s such an honour. They don’t come along too often, so when you get them, they’re special.

“Kody was different from most of the others because it wasn’t expected, but he just evolved and got better and better. He’s something else. He’s special to us.”

Purchased by the Burke Brigade as a four-year-old in August 2022, Lexus Kody worked his way from conditioned classes to the Open level in 2023. The following year, he set a track record at The Meadowlands with a 1:49.4 victory in the Vincennes and finished second in both the Sebastian K Invitational (a head behind Jiggy Jog S) and Charlie Hill Memorial (a length behind Winners Bet).

Lexus Kody won a total of 16 races in 2023 and 2024, earning $426,871 in the process, but he also went off stride 11 times.

In 2025, though, the gelded son of Archangel-Lexus Helios put it all together on his way to a memorable stretch of races from mid-summer through fall. Lexus Kody won seven of his last eight starts of the season, with three victories in Grade 1 stakes: the MGM Yonkers International Trot, Maple Leaf Trot and FanDuel Championship Open Trot. His 1:49.1 triumph in the Maple Leaf Trot made him the fastest trotter ever in Canada and his $1.31 million USD in earnings ranked second all time for North American purses for an older trotter.

“I always give credit to his caretaker, Jo Jo Tosies,” Collura said. “He really seemed to calm him down and get him the right way where he could eliminate the breaks and be a hundred per cent all the time.

“The ride last year was just incredible. It’s going to be a tough act to follow, but he doesn’t owe us anything.”

Lexus Kody, who has won 37 of 91 career races and earned $2.56 million, will get his 2026 stakes campaign under way for trainer Ron Burke and driver Yannick Gingras on Saturday, May 16 at The Meadowlands, where he meets eight rivals in the Grade 3 $150,100 USD Arthur J. Cutler Memorial. Lexus Kody, the 3-1 morning-line favourite after a second-place finish in his seasonal debut on May 2 at the Big M, will leave from post eight.

Periculum, a seven-year-old who captured last season’s Cutler Memorial by a neck over Lexus Kody, is the 7-2 second choice in his 2026 debut. The Marcus Melander-trained son of Muscle Hill-Amour Heiress qualified twice at The Meadowlands, most recently on May 8 when he won in 1:51.4. He is set to start from post three with Scott Zeron aboard. The field also includes Melander-trained graded stakes winner Aetos Kronos S (PP4, Dexter Dunn, 4-1), 2025 Breeders Crown Open Trot champion French Wine (PP7, Jason Bartlett, 6-1), and three-time O’Brien Award-winner Logan Park (PP9, Tim Tetrick, 6-1).

“Periculum qualified well; he’s always right with us all the time, but there are other good horses in there,” said Collura, who also is among the owners of Chapercraz, another Burke-trained entrant in the Cutler. “It’s early in the year and everyone is just rounding into shape, so you can’t really tell how good they actually are yet.

“Kody needed the start (on May 2). I think the eight-hole is okay, Yannick will put him in a good spot. Hopefully, we’ll have the Kody from last year back on Saturday. He’s getting older, but I’m hoping we can get another top year out of him. He’s a big, strong horse, so if anybody were able to do it, he would be the one. He’s a really powerful-looking horse and has such good speed. Some horses may have speed, but they can’t maintain it through an entire race. He seems to be able to do that. That’s what separates him from other horses.”

Racing begins at 6:35 p.m. at The Meadowlands. The Arthur J. Cutler Memorial, named after the famed New York restaurateur and horse owner, is Race 10 on the card, with a scheduled 10:33 p.m. post time.  The Cutler card is the first of the seven Meadowlands programs during 2026 that will be broadcast on FOX Sports 2 (FS2) from 8-11 p.m. as part of the New York Racing Association's “America’s Day at the Races” series.

(With files from USTA)