With a one-two punch in the 2025 Maple Leaf Trot that includes the two morning line favourites and another talented trotter touted as the one to beat in stakes action on the undercard, Marcus Melander is poised for a momentous evening on Saturday, Aug. 30 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The $630,000 G1 Maple Leaf Trot shares the Mohawk marquee on Saturday with the $690,000 G1 Canadian Pacing Derby. Those Grand Circuit stakes are supported by a pair of $158,000-plus G3 Simcoe Stakes for three-year-old trotters, a pair of $90,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold divisions for three-year-old male pacers in addition to a $36,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred and a $60,000 Open Pace.
While trainer Ron Burke leads all trainers with three on the gate in the Maple Leaf Trot, the path to the winner's circle clearly goes through the Melander-trained tandem of Aetos Kronos S and Periculum.
The fastest trotter ever on Canadian soil by virtue of a sparkling 1:49.4 performance at the hands of driver Dexter Dunn in his Maple Leaf Trot elimination, Aetos Kronos S has been installed as the 9-5 morning line choice in Saturday's Maple Leaf Trot final. The nine-year-old son of Bold Eagle-Will Of A Woman made more than $1.3 million in his European racing career before owners Jeffrey & Michael Snyder of NYC moved the trotter into the Melander barn for the 2025 season.
"When we started staking him, we didn't know what to expect," Melander told Trot Insider. "You know, he's nine, he's been off and on, we don't really know. But we spoke about it and we agreed we have to take a shot. If we lose some money on it, it is what it is. He felt great training, but then you never know until you start racing, obviously.
"He's such a happy horse, he loves being out there, training, racing, and that obviously helps a lot. He was very good when he was four and five...he was the probably best horse in Sweden. Then he got paralyzed. They did an injection on him, and he got sick, and he was paralyzed on the right side of his face. They couldn't drive him for a while."
Fully recovered, Aetos Kronos S has now forged his way to the top of the trotting ranks here as well. The second fastest older trotter on the season (tied with M Ms Dream) and fourth in divisional earnings, recent Yonkers International Trot invitee Aetos Kronos S sports a 6-2-0 summary from nine starts and back-to-back wins since adding Lasix.
"He's been racing good all year, and then we put him on Lasix. Dexter said he felt like a different horse when he won the Vincennes Trot on Hambo Day very easy, but then again he's been a great horse his entire life. Then last week, you know, he did very easy, Dexter said he just kept that length off [runner-up Hillexotic] and he said he had some left. He never gives up, that horse."
On paper, the biggest threat to post three starter Aetos Kronos S on Saturday could come from his barn buddy — and the horse starting directly to his right in post four — 2024 Maple Leaf Trot champ Periculum. The divisional leader in both speed (1:49.3) and earnings ($501,500) this season, the six-year-old son of Muscle Hill-Amour Heiress has finished first or second in all five appearances this year for driver Scott Zeron and owners Brixton Medical Inc. and Holly Lane Stud East Ltd., with his two losses coming at a combined margin of less than a length.
"Periculum was good," said Melander of his pupil's runner-up effort to Lexus Kody in the second Maple Leaf Trot elim. "When he gets a trip like that, you always expect him to just pass the other ones and win, right? But he's a little sharper when he races week after week. It was three weeks in between the races...he's a lot sharper when he races a little bit tighter, so I expect him to be a little bit tighter this week. He obviously got a good post there as well, so it's going to be an exciting race."
Melander was quick to credit the competition as well, noting the field has solid depth that won't make victory easy or certain despite his powerful pair.
"Lexus Kody's been racing great all year; that's a good horse," said Melander of the Burke-trained 5-1 third choice on the morning line. "Hillexotic obviously raced great...Call Me Goo, she didn't race bad — she was first-up on 'Aetos' there. It's a good field and I'm very happy with mine. I wouldn't trade them for anyone else, but you need a little bit of racing luck and hopefully we'll get there."
Last year, Maryland got there more often than he didn't for Melander and his connections. The 2024 Dan Patch and O'Brien Award winner went 6-1-1 in nine freshman starts with $1.6 million in earnings en route to sweeping the North American divisional honours for Courant Inc., Pcw Racing LLC, Holly Lane Stud East Ltd. and Sstewartrthorn Stable. This year, the wins haven't been as plentiful. Favoured in the 2025 Hambletonian despite going into the race winless on the season, Maryland finished third in America's Trotting Classic behind winner Nordic Catcher S and stablemate Super Chapter.
On Saturday, Maryland will return to Canadian soil for the first time since his 2024 Mohawk Million tally as one of eight sophomore trotting colts set to square off in the $158,125 G3 Simcoe Stakes. Leaving from post one, Maryland is the 6-5 morning line choice ahead of post six starter and local track record holder, Emoticon Legacy (Louis-Philippe Roy, 8-5), who recently finished second by a nose to the aforementioned Super Chapter in a world record 1:50f mile in the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial at Pocono.
"He scoped a little sick afterwards, and so he got a week off [after the Hambletonian] and just recharged. He's just been training after that. He feels great, so I'm excited to race him again. We've got this planned and then obviously we will come back two weeks later in the eliminations for the Canadian Trotting Classic, so we'll have a couple of starts there for him in Canada. It'll be exciting."
The sickness didn't impact any racing plans for Maryland according to Melander as the Beal wasn't on his radar and the plan for the son of Chapter Seven-Crucial is to concentrate on the two-turn ovals this campaign.
"This was the plan all along. It's a couple weeks in between the starts, but I think he'll be fine. He's been feeling great at home, and, you know, obviously he might need a race, but we'll see."
Melander could score a hat trick on Saturday night with a sweep of the top-tier trotting stakes, but that would entail an upset from 12-1 morning line choice Margareta Hanover (PP8, Dexter Dunn) in the $159,725 G3 Simcoe Stakes for three-year-old trotting fillies.
First post time for Saturday's star-studded card of harness racing is 6:35 p.m.
For entries, click one of the following links: Woodbine Mohawk Park - Saturday Entries || Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).
(Standardbred Canada)