Three North American-based trotters from different parts of the globe will complete the field for the Grade 1 MGM Yonkers International Trot. Defending champion Lexus Kody (Canada), Antognoni S (Sweden) and Super Chapter (U.S.) are the eighth, ninth and 10th horses to join the $1 million (USD) race at MGM Yonkers Raceway taking place on Sept. 12.
Lexus Kody led at every call in a 2:24.4 victory over a fast-charging Diva Ek in 2025. The victory contributed to his Dan Patch Trotter of the Year campaign for trainer Ron Burke and Pennsylvania-based owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and Phillip Collura.
“It’s a million-dollar race. We tried to win it numerous times and could not get it done. It was very fun,” said Burke on his excitement after the 2025 victory.
This year, Lexus Kody has continued his success, winning three of eight starts, including the Grade 3 JL Cruze and Grade 2 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot. The eight-year-old, who was also second in the Grade 1 John Cashman Memorial, was most recently fifth in the Maple Leaf Trot eliminations and will start from post four in the $620,000 final on Sept. 5 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
“He's been really good until the last couple weeks,” said Burke. “It just seems like the wrong time for him to have his first lull in forever. I think I have a grasp on the situation and hopefully I have him turned around by Sept. 12.”
A career winner of 40 races and $3 million, the Archangel-Lexus Helios gelding was bred by Norm Dunstan of Caledon Village, Ont.
Burke will also be represented in the Yonkers International Trot by track specialist Antognoni S. The six-year-old Swedish import has 14 wins in 18 starts over the Yonkers surface, including a couple at the distance of a mile and a quarter of the International Trot.
“I've never seen a horse that gets around that track better than he does,” said Burke.
Driven by Yannick Gingras, who shares ownership with Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and FAC Racing, Antognoni has put together a quality year despite a lighter stakes season than some of his counterparts. He won the Grade 3 Maxie Lee in May and was second behind his stablemate Lexus Kody in the Spirit of Massachusetts. He also competed in the Maple Leaf Trot eliminations and advanced to the final with a fifth-place finish. He’ll start from post 10.
“We put him back to the way he was [equipment-wise] when he was in Sweden, when he wasn't a good horse. It wasn’t one of our brighter moves. We overthought it and tried something,” said Burke on the Maple Leaf Trot performance.
With Gingras part owner on Antognoni S, he will have to drive that one and Lexus Kody will need a replacement.
“I think I'm going to use Jason [Bartlett], but I haven't committed to that,” said Burke.
A millionaire son of Father Patrick out of Bouncing Bax, Antognoni S has won 28 of his 53 starts lifetime.
Super Chapter also moved on to the Maple Leaf Trot final following an impressive 1:49.4 victory in the elimination round for driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Marcus Melander. The four-year-old Dan Patch Award winner from 2025 hasn’t missed a beat this year, with four wins and two seconds from six starts, including a victory against older foes in the Grade 1 Cashman Memorial.
“I was pretty confident in him going into that Cashman race. Obviously, he’s been great all season,” said Melander, who was very happy with his Maple Leaf Trot effort. “He raced great in the elimination. Hopefully he'll race great in the final too. He seems to have come out of it good.”
Owned by Jeffrey Snyder, Arthur Pronti and Hanover Shoe Farms, Super Chapter is no stranger to the half-mile track at Yonkers, having won the MGM Yonkers Trot over the surface in 2025. The son of New York super-sire Chapter Seven out of Lifetime Pursuit has earned more than $2.9 million in his career and only been worse than third three times in 30 career starts, with 18 wins.
According to Melander, Dunn will drive Super Chapter in the International Trot, and Scott Zeron will get the assignment behind Bourbonista.
“[Bourbonista] will qualify on Friday [Sept. 4] at The Meadowlands and Scott will drive her in the qualifier and he'll pick her up in the International,” said Melander. “They're both good enough to be able to win that race if we get some luck with the draw.”
A native of Sweden, Melander is familiar with many of the foreign horses and sees it as a competitive group.
“I think it's a pretty even field coming from Europe. They’re all good horses but none of them stand out above the others.”
Below is the complete field (alphabetical order) with expected drivers for the International Trot. Country of origin is listed in parenthesis.
- Antognoni – Yannick Gingras (Sweden)
- Betting Pacer – Björn Goop (Sweden)
- Bourbonista – Scott Zeron (Sweden)
- Diva Ek – Alessandro Gocciadoro (Italy)
- Gio Cash – TBD (Germany)
- Hooker Berry – Antoine Lhéreté (France)
- Lexus Kody – TBD (Canada)
- Mellby Jinx – Daniel Wäjersten (Sweden)
- Powwow – Ake Svanstedt (Norway)
- Super Chapter – Dexter Dunn (United States)
The $1 million (USD) race will be the focal point of a stellar card on Sept. 12 that starts at 11:50 a.m. and includes the $2.4 million USD New York Sire Stakes finals for two and three-year-olds, as well as a pair of $200,000 USD Invitationals, the Bob Miecuna Trot and Aria Pace.
Yonkers is currently offering live racing on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday, with post time at 6:45 p.m. every night except Saturday when post time is 3:30 p.m. There will be no live racing on Friday, Sept. 11.
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)