Three horses have repeated as the winner of the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial in its 26-year history. Venerate will look to become the fourth when he meets seven rivals in this year's $145,150 USD edition of the Grand Circuit event for older trotters at The Meadowlands on Saturday.
Venerate, a six-year-old stallion who was a Dan Patch Award winner in 2020, got his season underway last week with a third-place finish in a $24,658 conditioned trot at the Big M. He was timed in 1:52.1 with a :27.3 last quarter over a track labelled sloppy.
“He raced OK; he needed the race,” said trainer Marcus Melander. “He finished up good and hopefully that race will move him forward a lot. I think he’ll be all right.”
Venerate won last year’s Culter Memorial in a career-best 1:50.1. The triumph gave Melander his second victory in the race. Melander, Ake Svanstedt and Ron Burke will combine to send out six of Saturday’s eight Cutler participants; the trio has won eight of the past 10 editions of the race.
A son of Love You-Peaceful Kemp, Venerate will start from post six with driver Scott Zeron and is the 7-2 morning-line second choice. Returning Dan Patch Award winner Jiggy Jog S, the lone mare in the field, is the 2-1 favourite.
Venerate will try to join Resolve (2016-17), Sand Vic (2006-07) and Magician (2000-01) as a repeat winner of the Cutler.
“We know when he’s good that he can go with them,” Melander said about Venerate taking on the top horses in the division. “I’m excited to see him.”
Last year, Venerate won the Cutler and followed that performance with second-place finishes behind Its Academic in the Crawford Farms Open and John Cashman Memorial. He made a break in his next start, the Maple Leaf Trot, and never regained his form.
“It just felt like we got on the wrong page with him after Canada and never got him back,” said Melander.
Venerate did stallion duty during the winter, with frozen semen sent to breeders overseas. He returned to training in early February.
“He’s been training good ever since,” said Melander.
For his career, Venerate has won 12 of 41 races and earned $1.29 million. He is owned by Courant Inc., Holly Lane Stud East Ltd., Kemppi Stables Oy Inc., and Venerate Partners.
Melander also will send five-year-old stallion Periculum into the Cutler. Periculum raced overseas last season but was a multiple Grand Circuit winner at ages two and three in North America. He earned $310,332 as a sophomore, when his mark of 1:50.3 tied for fourth fastest among three-year-old male trotters.
Periculum, owned by Brixton Medical Inc. and Holly Lane Stud East, won a $17,123 conditioned trot at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs on May 7 in his seasonal debut. The son of Muscle Hill-Amour Heiress will start on Saturday from post three with Mattias Melander in the sulky and is 10-1 on the morning line.
“He’s a little bit of an outsider in his first race against these horses here, but we know he has potential,” said Melander. “He had the speed as a three-year-old. I think he’s fast enough to go against these horses. It will be interesting to see how he races against them now.”
Jiggy Jog S, who received last year’s Dan Patch Award for best older female trotter, will make her seasonal debut in the Cutler Memorial. Last year, she finished no worse than second in all 11 of her races, winning eight and earning $1.05 million. For her career, the daughter of Walner-Hot Mess Hanover has hit the board in 30 of 35 starts, winning 18 and banking $2.3 million.
A mare has won the Cutler four times in the past nine years. Those champions were Bee A Magician in 2015, Hannelore Hanover in 2018, Atlanta in 2020 and Manchego in 2021.
Jiggy Jog S is one of three Svanstedt horses in the Cutler, along with Southwind Tyrion (4-1) and Asteroid (10-1). Those two six-year-olds also are making their seasonal debuts. Southwind Tyrion was a Breeders Crown winner in 2023.
Svanstedt, the 2023 U.S. Trainer of the Year, has won the Cutler four times since arriving in the U.S. from Sweden and launching his stable in 2014.
The Cutler Memorial will air on Fox Sports 2 as part of a 9-11 p.m. (EDT) broadcast on the network.
In addition to the Cutler, Karl, the early favourite for the 99th edition of the Hambletonian, will be in the spotlight as the team at Fox will not only air his New Jersey Sire Stakes (NJSS) race on the show, but also begin to chronicle the Nancy Takter trainee’s road to the $1 USD million Hambo, which takes place on Aug. 3.
Karl is the 1-5 morning-line favourite in his $30,000 USD division of the NJSS, the second of three second-round splits for three-year-old male trotters. There also will be three $30,000 USD second-round divisions of NJSS action for sophomore female trotters.
Racing begins at 6:20 p.m. (EDT) at The Meadowlands. For a free TrackMaster program for Saturday's card, click here.
The complete field for Saturday's Cutler is listed below in post position order.
$145,150 USD Arthur J. Cutler Memorial Trot
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Dover In Motion - David Miller - Jamie Macomber - 6-1
2. Asteroid - Tim Tetrick - Ake Svanstedt - 10-1
3. Periculum - Mattias Melander - Marcus Melander - 10-1
4. Hillexotic - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 5-1
5. Southwind Tyrion - Ake Svanstedt - Ake Svanstedt - 4-1
6. Venerate - Scott Zeron - Marcus Melander - 7-2
7. Jiggy Joggy S - Dexter Dunn - Ake Svanstedt - 2-1
8. Delayed Hanover - Jordan Stratton - Kevin McDermott - 20-1
(USTA)