Mr Mouton mounted a four-wide stretch rally to spring a 42-1 upset with in his $70,423 third-round division of the Graduate Series for four-year-old trotters on Saturday, June 20 at the Meadowlands — and, in doing so, ended On To Norway's win streak at 27 races.
Trainer/driver Åke Svanstedt secured the pocket with Mr Mouton behind early leader Walspea (Jason Bartlett) on the first turn before being relegated to third as 6-5 second choice Go Dog Go (Todd McCarthy) brushed to control just before hitting the half in :55. Just as Go Dog Go cleared, Yannick Gingras activated On To Norway first-over out of fourth, and the Indiana sensation ground forward to apply stern pressure to Go Dog Go to three-quarters in 1:23.2. Meanwhile, Mr Mouton had been shuffled back to fifth in the six-horse field, but Svanstedt was able to angle him off the pegs and point him four-wide off the turn for home.
At the eighth pole, Go Dog Go appeared to be holding his ground over On To Norway, but Mr Mouton unleashed a ferocious rally down the grandstand side, striking the front 40 metres from the winning post and prevailing by a half-length in 1:50.2. On To Norway remained strong enough to save second in his first defeat since April 3, 2025. Go Dog Go finished third.
"He's been better and better every race," said Svanstedt, who trains Mr Mouton for Knutsson Trotting Inc., Little E LLC, Stolz Geiger, and Jorgen Sparredal Inc. "I expected a good race from him today. I didn't have any choice (but to race him from off the pace after being shuffled), but he came home fast and he fought well."
Mr Mouton scored his first win in four starts this year after failing to fire from the pocket in a third-place finish behind Super Chapter last week. He is now a six-time winner from 15 lifetime starts with career earnings of $384,090. As the second-longest shot on the board, the Chapter Seven-Burberry gelding paid $87.80 to win.
Off his 1:49.3 win in second-round action, Super Chapter rode the pocket to his second victory in as many tries as a four-year-old, rolling to an easy 1:51.1 score in the $70,423 second trotting section.
Dexter Dunn pushed Super Chapter forward from the inside post to protect the pocket behind 45-1 pacesetter Happy Jack B (Gingras), who put up soft early fractions of :28.4 and :57.1 before picking up the tempo to three-quarters in 1:24.2. Upon cornering for home, Dunn tipped Super Chapter off the pegs, and the Chapter Seven-Lifetime Pursuit entire shifted gears instantaneously to eclipse the tiring Happy Jack B in a matter of strides and pull away to the 1/16th pole. In deep stretch, Dunn took Super Chapter in hand and measured his winning margin to three-quarters of a length. Warrior (Svanstedt) circled three-wide to take second around the one-paced Delaney Hanover (Zeron), who finished third.
"He's like driving a sports car," Dunn said of last year's richest sophomore trotter. "Once we got in the two-hole and there was no movement, I was happy to give him cover tonight. He exploded (in the stretch) like he usually does."
Marcus Melander trains Super Chapter, now a 16-time winner with $2,495,684 in the bank from 27 starts, for Jeffrey Snyder, Arthur Pronti and Hanover Shoe Farms Inc. As the 1-9 favourite, Super Chapter paid $2.10 to win.
On the pacing side, Prince Hal Hanover threw down a monstrous 1:48 mile to win his $70,423 division. He called all the shots through splits of :26.1, :54.4 and 1:22.2 in line to Todd McCarthy before unleashing :25.3 stretch speed to outpace second-leg winner Captain Optimistic (Scott Zeron) by a measured three-quarters of a length. Swingtown (Gingras) finished third, another 3-1/2 lengths behind, after a stagnant first-over bid through the far turn.
"I was looking for a bit of a breather in the middle half, and I thought the tempo was still pretty stable," said McCarthy, who drove the Captaintreacherous-Percy Bluechip entire for trainer Dr. Ian Moore and owner Prince Hal Hanover Stable. "It's always tough on a night like this; there's a little bit of a headwind here and it's been a bit tough on the leaders tonight. To come the last quarter we did was impressive."
Prior to his Graduate win, which was the 14th victory of his career in 38 starts and elevated his career earnings to $1,886,327, Prince Hal Hanover acquitted himself well against older company. He rallied for second in the Grade 2 Battle of Lake Erie and finished third in the Grade 3 Mohawk Gold Cup — and gave McCarthy plenty of optimism that his charge will hold his own in the free-for-all pacing ranks as the season progresses.
"This horse has never let me down; he just does his job every time," he said. "He's really well put together, he's got a lot of size, and he's got the attitude. When the time comes, I'm sure he'll be willing to take that step."
Prince Hal Hanover is now four-for-seven this year. As the 3-5 favourite, he paid $3.20 to win.
In the second $70,423 pacing division, Fallout and driver Tim Tetrick quarter-moved to the lead from the pocket at the end of a :26.4 first split before yielding to Bruno No No No (Jason Bartlett) to draft behind middle splits of :53.3 and 1:20.4. Off the turn for home, Tetrick angled Fallout off the pegs to take aim at Bruno No No No, and the Captaintreacherous-Aria Hanover entire sprinted to the lead at will, accelerating home 1-1/4 lengths clear for a lifetime-best 1:47.4 score. Crack Shot (Jordan Stratton) split foes in mid-stretch and closed ground steadily for second. Fifth And Five (Zeron) emerged late to just nab Bruno No No No for third.
Fallout, a nine-time winner with $1,291,242 in the bank from 34 starts, is trained by Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable LLC, Larry Karr, Phil Collura and Knox Services Inc. Saturday's win was his third of the year in seven outings. He paid $6 to win as the 2-1 favourite.
The $250,000 USD (estimated) Graduate finals for each gait, both Grade 2 events, will take place Saturday, July 4.
Trainer Chris Ryder took both $84,507 New Jersey Standardbred Development Fund (NJSDF) finals for three-year-olds on the pace.
His win in the colt-and-gelding division impressed but did not come with the horse the betting public expected. Obliterate, a 10-1 outsider despite having won his NJSDF preliminary a week ago in 1:48.3, worked out a good trip after an aggressive drive from Chris’ son, Patrick, to score his fourth win from 10 tries in his debut season.
Bookie J (Dunn), Obliterate’s headline-grabbing stablemate who was a perfect five-for-five in 2026 heading into the race, worked out an ideal second-over trip, but the 1-9 public choice couldn’t deal with Obliterate late. Obliterate gave up command to Reincarnated (Brett Beckwith) past a :26.3 quarter then raced in the pocket through :55 and 1:23 middle splits and until mid-stretch. The colt by Perfect Sting-Triple V Hanover then vacated the rail while in tight quarters, and a late burst of speed got him to the finish three-quarters of a length in front of Bookie J in 1:49.4. Corvette Stingray (Jason Bartlett) raced bravely first-over and hung in there to claim the show dough.
“We really liked this horse all along and it’s taken a few starts to get him right where we want him,” said Patrick Ryder. “My dad’s always had so much faith in him and he’s always believed in me driving him.
“I wasn’t real happy putting him in the two-hole. I just kind of took my chances. I was hoping I’d get room (late), and it was really tight. When I snuck my way out, he gave me a really good run. I couldn’t believe how well he responded.”
Obliterate, owned by Robert Mondillo, Craig Henderson and FAC Racing LLC, has now earned $104,470. He returned $22.40 to his backers.
In the split for fillies, Car Keys hustled to the top at the quarter while parked in :27 and went down the road from there, winning in a lifetime-best 1:50. The daughter of Always B Miki-Road Bet reached the half in :54.3 and three-quarters in 1:22.4 for Dexter Dunn. Sunny Station (Todd McCarthy), the 7-5 favourite, popped out of the five-hole with a bit more than three-eighths to go, and while she gained throughout the latter stages, she wasn’t a major danger to the winner, coming up a half-length short. Napalm (Tim Tetrick) finished third.
Car Keys won for the first time in seven seasonal tries and is now two-for-16 lifetime with $205,932 in earnings for owners Margaret Dey and Matthew Stotle. She returned $7 to win as the 5-2 second choice.
Dunn led the driver colony with three winners on the 14-race card. Jody Dunning and Chris Ryder topped the trainers with a pair of walks down victory lane apiece. All-source handle totalled $2,479,146.
Racing resumes Friday at 6:35 p.m. There is no racing on Saturday due to a World Cup soccer match at MetLife Stadium.
(Meadowlands Racetrack)