Alrajah One IT continued his perfect North American campaign on Saturday, Aug. 6 at The Meadowlands, sweeping off his stablemate's cover to win the $279,000 John Cashman Memorial Trot, a.k.a. 'The Ake Svanstedt Show.'
Driver Dexter Dunn drove the popular winner, who was one of five trotters trained by Ake Svanstedt in the eight-horse field.
It was a 1-2 finish for Svanstedt, who drove runner-up Ecurie D DK.
The Jeff Cullipher trainee Lovedbythemasses finished third after Tim Tetrick put him on the point during a :27.2 opening quarter and set middle fractions of :55.3 and 1:23.3 with Rattle My Cage (Yannick Gingras) popping the pocket.
Meanwhile, Dunn had eased Alrajah One IT off the gate into fifth early on and picked up cover from stablemate Ecurie D DK in the final turn before sweeping to a clear victory in 1:50.3. He paid $3 to win as the 4-5 favourite.
"He's shown his quick speed since he's been here and you know there was a bit of speed early," said Dunn after the win. "[I thought] Timmy would leave and Ake would leave so we got away in a pretty good position, and the tempo was hot enough for us down to the half. We came out and made our move on the last turn...Ake came out so we had a helmet to follow there for a bit. I sort of pulled him off Ake's helmet, asked him to go...he's got an incredible turn of foot."
The Cashman win followed successful starts in the Crawford Farms Open at the Big M and the Spirit Of Massachusetts at Plainridge Park last month for Alrajah One IT. Bred in Italy, the six-year-old son of Maharajah out of the Varenne mare Mariu is owned by by Scuderia My Horse Inc. of Delray Beach, Florida.
A multiple Group 1 stakes winner in Europe prior to joining the Svanstedt stable this season, Alrajah One IT now has 16 career victories and more than $1.5 million in purse earnings.
Check out all the recaps from 2022 Hambletonian Day here.