It was an incredible story, in 2022, when Beach Glass won the Meadowlands Pace. It was the one race that had eluded his famous sire, Somebeachsomewhere, and their mutual connections, and because he was from the last full crop of ‘The Beach’ he was trainer Brent MacGrath and the ownership group’s last chance to win that event with a son of their horse-of-a-lifetime.
This past August 8th, when Apex conquered the Hambletonian for trainer Marcus Melander - who seemed to have previously been snake-bitten in North America’s biggest trotting race - the similarities to the Beach Glass victory came to mind for me.
It definitely wasn’t the last chance for the 34-year-old Melander to capture the event, but when you’ve trained the runner-up in four of the last seven editions of the race, and actually finished second AND third in three of those years, at some point, the poor guy must have wondered if it was ever going to happen for him?
The victory by Apex definitely got the monkey off the back of Melander, but the more I thought about it, the deeper this angle seemed to run.
His driver, Dexter Dunn - one of the very best we’ve ever seen - and someone who had won practically every big race in the sport, was also working on a bit of a ‘Hambo Jinx’ himself.
Last year Dex finished third on the race favourite, Maryland, and the year before that, in 2024, he was also third, with Amazing Catch. In 2023, Dex gave co-favourite Winners Bet a perfect steer, before his charge faded to finish sixth. The 2022 and 2020 Hambos both resulted in fourth-place finishers for Dunn, with Jiggy Jog S and Amigo Volo respectively, and were sandwiched around his 2021 attempt with Really Fast, who unfortunately made a break in the $1 million event at odds of 9/2.
The Hambletonian is obviously a tough race to win, and like Melander, Dex is still young and will surely get many more chances, but getting that first one obviously had to be a good feeling for the ultra-talented reinsman.
Then there’s Apex’s loving caretaker, Amalie Ødegård. Although just 25-years-old, and only having worked in North America since 2021, the Norwegian lass had already finished second (with Oh Well) and third (with Maryland) in the final of The Hambo… but then along came Apex.
Although co-owner/breeder Steve Stewart had bred multiple Hambletonian winners, this was his first title as an owner, and even though partner Jeffrey Snyder had won major pacing events with horses like Well Said, this was also his first Hambo win. The third partner on Apex - SRF Stable - was the only piece in this entire puzzle who was actually winning a Hambletonian that wasn’t their first!
Melander, Dunn, Ødegård, Stewart and Snyder are people however, and like I said, they will each most likely get a number of more chances, after this year, to taste Hambletonian glory.
As for horses though, they’re only three-year-olds once, and even when you include their breeding careers, the Hambletonian histories of Apex’s parents hadn’t always been happy ones either - until now.
If you weren’t aware, Apex, a $525,000 yearling, is a royally-bred son of Walner-Mission Brief.
When Walner easily won the 2017 Stanley Dancer in 1:50.2, he was literally bursting through his bridle at the wire for driver Tim Tetrick. At the time, he was the most impressive trotting colt I’d ever seen, besides Muscle Hill, and 1:49 looked like a real possibility. He was going to be 1/9 in his Hambo heat, in his next start, but sadly he sustained an injury before that could happen and he never raced again.
As a sire, Walner is every bit as great as he was on the racetrack, yet even though many of his progeny had come close to winning The Hambo, none had been successful - until Apex.
Mission Brief was trained by the most dominant trainer in the history of our sport - Ron Burke - and a couple of years ago he told me that she was the greatest two-year-old he’d ever trained… and that it wasn’t even close!
That, is high praise!
The Hambo, however, hadn’t necessarily been a great memory for her either.
Racing against the boys, in the 2015 edition, she won her heat easily, by 4 ¾ lengths, at odds of ⅘. Yannick Gingras famously picked off of the other heat winner, Pinkman, to drive her in the final, but the filly ended up second to that one, beat three-quarters of a length, at odds of ⅗.
Although a brilliant 100% producer as a broodmare, with the slowest of her six foals still sporting a mark of 1:54.1 (and that being her 2026 two-year-old), none of Mission Brief’s progeny had ever made it into the Hambo - until Apex.
Apex may or may not win 2026 Horse of the Year honours in the United States - there’s still a long way to go - but regardless, he should win an award for the ‘Most Aptly Named Horse.’
The definition of ‘Apex’ is: “The highest point or peak of something. It can describe a physical structure or a moment of success.”
Marcus, Dex, Amalie, Steve, Jeffrey, Walner and Mission Brief - and a number of others I’m sure - are not about to argue that!
A sincere congratulations to you all!
Dan Fisher
[email protected]