Super Chapter and Lexus Kody hooked up in a stride-for-stride duel down the stretch of the $390,556 John Cashman Memorial, with Super Chapter getting his head in front in the final strides to win the Grade 1 event for older trotters in 1:50.1 at The Meadowlands on Saturday, Aug. 8. Dexter Dunn drove the Marcus Melander-trained winner.
Hillexotic and Matt Kakaley took the lead on the first turn, but driver Yannick Gingras pushed forward with Lexus Kody to take command at the :27.3 opening quarter. The field remained lined up behind the leader, with Hillexotic second and Super Chapter third, on the way to the half in :55.1. Dunn bided his time until the final turn before making a charge with Super Chapter, drawing alongside Lexus Kody at three-quarters in 1:23.
From there, the two Dan Patch Award winners locked up in an epic battle before Super Chapter’s late surge provided his winning margin over the 2025 Trotter of Year. Up Your Deo and Ake Svanstedt finished third, 2-3/4 lengths behind Super Chapter.
“I thought about moving to the front after the quarter, but Lexus Kody came on pretty good and I thought it was a battle we didn’t need to get in to,” said Dunn. “Once I moved in the last turn, [Super Chapter] moved with authority.
“That’s what makes this horse such a champion, you can do whatever you want. He’s just so classy; he’s one of my favourite horses to sit behind. He’s an absolute dude.”
Super Chapter, who was a divisional Dan Patch Award winner at three last year, has won 17 of 30 career races and hit the board an additional 10 times. The son of Chapter Seven-Lifetime Pursuit went over $2.8 million in career earnings, with $461,140 banked this year. He is owned by Jeffrey Snyder of New York City, New York, Arthur Pronti of Jersey City, New Jersey and breeder Hanover Shoe Farms of Hanover, Pennsylvania.
“It’s great to have him back as a four-year-old,” said Dunn. “I was pretty happy when they said they were bringing him back. He never puts in a bad performance. You can always count on him.”
Super Chapter has three wins and two seconds in five races this year. His previous four starts were all in competition against four-year-olds.
“This is the first time he’s raced against older horses, and he came through for us,” said Snyder. “He’s been a very special horse from day one. We’re excited.”
Sent off as the 4-5 favourite, Super Chapter paid $3.60 to win.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)