Six Pack has a tendency to keep Ake Svanstedt guessing. The colt, who is the 2-1 morning line favourite in the second of Saturday’s two Hambletonian eliminations at the Meadowlands Racetrack, tends to get lazy when in the lead, as he waits for other horses to join him. That can lead to anxious moments for Svanstedt, who trains and drives the horse.
“You never know if he’s tired, or if he’s lazy,” Svanstedt said. “Sometimes he feels tired, but he’s not tired. He’s just waiting for someone and you get afraid. I always have that feeling in the stretch with him. Then someone comes and he picks it up again. But how should I know that? You don’t know until it happens.”
Six Pack heads to the Hambletonian, the sport’s premier event for three-year-old trotters, with eight wins in his past nine races dating to last September. His only setback was a second-place finish to Crystal Fashion in the final of the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial, which was only the third time in his career he was passed in the stretch when holding the lead.
For his career, Six Pack has won nine of 14 races and earned $557,840 for owners Ake Svanstedt Inc., Jeff Gural’s Little E LLC, Tomas Olofsson’s Stall Kalmar FF, and Lars Berg.
The colt will enter the Hambletonian off a 1:50 win in his division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial on July 14 at the Meadowlands. The time is the fastest ever by a three-year-old male trotter. He will start his Hambletonian elimination from Post 9 in a nine-horse field.
“He has raced better and better for every race this year,” Svanstedt said. “He is going up the whole time. He’s an all-around horse. The good horses are all around. He’s nice to handle and nice gaited and can leave fast. I think he can go faster (than 1:50). He was not tired the last time. He was just lazy, so I must push him.”
The stakes-filled Hambletonian Day card will begin at 12 noon. The Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks will be featured on a live 90-minute broadcast on CBS Sports Network from 4 - 5:30 p.m. (EDT).
Wolfgang, from the stable of four-time Hambletonian-winning trainer Jimmy Takter, is the 5-2 morning line favourite in the first Hambletonian elimination, which also includes the lone female in the race, Atlanta. The filly, trained by Rick Zeron, is 3-1. She is attempting to become the first filly to win the Hambletonian since Continentalvictory in 1996.
The top five finishers from each $100,000 elimination will return for the $1 million final later Saturday afternoon.
Starting from Post 9 with Six Pack is similar to Svanstedt’s situation in 2017 when Perfect Spirit started from Post 10 in his elimination. Svanstedt got away fourth after a three-wide push on the first turn. He made a first-over move at the half, took the lead briefly in the stretch, and finished third to advance to the final. His drive was inspired by a conversation with Hall of Fame reinsman John Campbell.
“I left fast with (Perfect Spirit),” Svanstedt said. “John Campbell said one thing. He said, ‘they don’t race the Hambletonian tomorrow, and not next week, the Hambletonian is today. You have to leave and give him a chance.’ I did that.”
Six Pack is a son of Muscle Mass out of Pleasing Lady. He was purchased for $30,000 at the 2016 Lexington Selected Sale. Svanstedt’s familiarity with Six Pack’s family goes back to Merger Blue Chip, who was out of Six Pack’s third dam, Caviar Please, and was raced by former Svanstedt assistant Bjorn ‘Bernie’ Noren before being sent to Europe. Svanstedt raced Six Pack’s half-brother Limerence.
“We have a very good mare in Sweden, Merger Blue Chip,” Svanstedt said. “We bought her here and she raced here for Bernie. Then we took her to Sweden and she was one of the best mares when she was a five-year-old. Then we bought Limerence. I looked at the pedigree and saw it was the same family as Merger Blue Chip. Limerence was an OK horse.
“That’s how I found Six Pack because he was a half-brother to Limerence. And Six Pack was a good-looking horse. He is a good-looking horse. He has very good conformation.”
Svanstedt won the 2017 Hambletonian with Perfect Spirit, who was elevated from second to first when What The Hill was disqualified for interference in the stretch. He is not thinking of winning a second trophy.
“It’s a big thing, of course, but you can never say something before (the race),” Svanstedt said. “You must race and see what happens. But I have a good horse and I’m happy that I have such a good horse. That is the first step. I don’t think the heat racing will bother him. He is big and strong so he should be OK.”
(USTA)