Trainer Marcus Melander is bringing a major one-two punch to the $250,000 USD Spirit of Massachusetts Trot (Grade 2) at Plainridge Park on Sunday, July 20. Millionaires Periculum and Aetos Kronos S have been entered in the eighth edition of The Spirit and both have been a force in the older trotting division so far this year.
Periculum is a six-year-old son of Muscle Hill and Amour Heiress who has been with Melander his entire career and is coming off the best year of his career in 2024, when hit the board 13 out of 17 times, including six wins, and earned more than $1.12 in purses. Last fall, the Maple Leaf Trot champion just missed winning the Breeders Crown at The Meadowlands after getting parked the entire mile to finish second by a nose in 1:51 before finishing second to Spirit contender Logan Park in the FanDuel Open Trot Championship to close out his season.
So far in 2025, he is a perfect two-for-two and comes into the Spirit of Massachusetts off the best performance of his life, a 1:50 triumph in the Crawford Farms Open Trot on June 28 at The Meadowlands.
“He got a couple weeks off after the [FanDuel] final last year and we brought him back in January," said Melander. "He felt a lot stronger training down this winter and spring and we were very excited to start racing him again because he trained great right along.”
Periculum won his first start this year in the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial at The Meadowlands, parked pretty much the entire mile in a 10-horse field. But he still swelled up late to claim the win and his trainer was very happy with the effort, pointing out he only had one qualifier before that race.
He then had 41 days off between the Cutler and his second win in the Crawford, due to being sick and qualifying twice coming back. That said, he won easily in a new lifetime mark. But that result didn’t surprise Melander at all.
“No, not really. Especially after that second qualifier," said Melander. "The first week the track was muddy, but the second one he looked really good and I couldn’t have been more happy with him at that point.”
In that Crawford win, Periculum came home in :26.4 under wraps, which was his co-fastest last quarter in a winning effort ever for him, making him quite formidable coming into the Spirit.
“When he gets a trip like that he does well. He can do it on the front too, but when he can sit in and save his speed, especially on those big tracks, it’s hard to stop him when he gets those kinds of races," said Melander. "He’s got good confidence after those two wins and I think he’s in very good shape right now coming into this race. To get ready, he’s just been doing his training miles we usually do [he goes his intervals twice a week]. He’s sharp enough.”
Periculum has 13 wins in 52 lifetime starts with $1,797,086 in earnings. He is owned by Brixton Medical Inc. of Matawan, New Jersey and Holly Lane Stud East Ltd. of Vero Beach, Florida.
Aetos Kronos S is a nine-year-old by Bold Eagle out of Will Of A Woman who is racing in his first season for Melander after competing in Europe since 2018. Among his highlights there was winning the Hakan Wallner Memorial with a world-record performance at the distance of 1-5/16 miles at age three. As a five-year-old, he was an Elitloppet finalist and later that same season upset Elitloppet winner Don Fanucci Zet in the Jubileumspokalen at Solvalla Racetrack.
After a very abbreviated racing session in 2024, Aetos Kronos S is poised for a big rebound on the track in North America. He's posted four wins and two seconds in his first six starts this year.
“They quit early with him in 2024 and took him to the breeding shed, but he wasn’t fertile enough at that point. So I don’t know if it was too close to him having raced or what, but then they decided to bring him over here," explained Melander. "He came to my stable in September of last year. He left Europe in July and then had to quarantine and then came to me. We had him all winter to train, but it took a little bit to get him ready after being off that year. His first qualifier was just okay and then he came back better in the second.”
Although he raced predominantly at a distance in Europe for seven years earning just under $1.4 million in purses, eight of his 19 wins there were at a mile. So he transitioned well to North American racing and has gotten off to a very fast start by recently stringing three sharp wins together before finishing second to stablemate Periculum in the Crawford.
“Right now, he’s really very sharp," said Melander. "That was a very good performance from the lead in the Crawford with a big half and he kept fighting the whole way and he hung on for second behind Periculum. So that was a very good performance. Since then he’s been super sharp and training well for this race. He’s been doing great.”
For his career, Aetos Kronos S boasts 23 wins in 68 starts with $1,551,638 in purses. He races for New York City-based owners Jeffrey and Michael Snyder.
Periculum and Aetos Kronos S are both staked to pretty much everything for the rest of the year and most likely will square off against each other several more times this season.
Melander, who set personal career highs of 104 wins and $9 million in purses last year, is no stranger to Plainridge Park. In May, he started three-year-olds Variegated and Global Sensation in the Grade 3 Battle of Bunker Hill Trot, finishing first and second in that stake. Could that happen again here?
“I hope so. It was the first time for me to be at Plainridge in May. It was a good trip, I liked the track and it will be exciting to get back there,” concluded Melander.
The complete field for the Spirit of Massachusetts is listed below.
$250,000 USD Spirit of Massachusetts Trot (Grade 2)
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer
1. Up Your Deo - Ake Svanstedt - Ake Svanstedt
2. Chapercraz - David Miller - Ron Burke
3. Logan Park - Doug McNair - Rob Fellows
4. Get A Wish Dk - Tim Tetrick - Ake Svanstedt
5. Ari Ferrari J - Brett Beckwith - Tony Alagna
6. Periculum - Scott Zeron - Marcus Melander
7. Lexus Kody - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke
8. Aetos Kronos S - Dexter Dunn - Marcus Melander
9. Daiquiri Hanover - Drew Monti - Tony Alagna
AE. Lovedbythemasses - Tim Tetrick - Jeff Culipher
Post time for Sunday's first race is 2 p.m., with the main event carded as the ninth race.
(With files from Plainridge Park; photo of Periculum winning the 2024 Maple Leaf Trot at Woodbine Mohawk Park)