MILTON, October 23, 2025– Marcus Melander has won five Breeders Crown trophies in his career so far, and the 33-year-old running coach will have multiple opportunities to add to that total this weekend at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Melander will send out at least one horse in six of this year’s 12 Breeders Crown finals. He has three finalists in the 2-year-old male trotters, 2-year-old female trotters and 3-year-old male trotters events plus two in the Open Trot and one each in the Mare Trot and 3-Year-Old Filly Trot.
“Hopefully we can do something good,” Melander said.
Melander’s Crown quests start Friday with two morning line favorites. Summit (Walter), who won the Grade 1 Mohawk Million at Woodbine Mohawk Park in a Canadian record 1:51.4 in his most recent start on September 20, is the 7-5 favorite in the $700,000 (USD) final for 2-year-old male trotters, while Nezuko Kamado S, also on a four-race winning streak, gets the nod in the $700,000 final for 2 year old fillies trotters.
Apex advanced directly to his Breeders Crown final as the winner of the Peter Haughton Memorial. He qualified on October 17 in 1:54.1 and won by eight lengths at Mohawk. Before his career, the son of Walter-Mission Brief (each a Breeders Crown champion) has won six of eight starts and earned $821,575 (USD). He leaves from station one with driver Dexter Dunn.
“We were very happy with his qualification,” said Melander. “He looks good, he feels good, and we obviously have a lot of confidence in him. The draw was good. He also had the one hole in the Mohawk Million, so he should be fine there. Everything seems fine with him.”
“He needed a race or a qualification, so that’s why we qualified him. But I’m glad we said goodbye and we knew we were going to have a good draw (posts one through six). I’m happy with everything that led to the race. He’s a fantastic horse. It’s exciting.”
Melander’s other starters in the freshman male trotting race are Spencer Hanover and Nix Nacken, who are 6-1 and 8-1, respectively, at the morning line.
Spencer Hanover won his Breeders Crown elimination and has two wins and a second since the addition of trotting bumps. Nix Nacken, also winner of the Grand Circuit, finished second in his elimination, won by Diabolic Hill.
“(Spencer Hanover) has been really good the last couple of starts,” Melander said. “I always liked the horse, but he was a bit immature and didn’t really understand everything. The bumps have really given him a bit of confidence. He’s really shown good potential here in the last few starts.”
In the 2-year-old Filly Trot, Nezuko Kamado S records a 1:53.1 victory in her elimination. For the year, the daughter of Chapter seven-Zefira Kronos IT won six of nine races and earned $364,894. She departs from station two with driver Scott Zeron.
“She’s been great all year,” Melander said. “She had a little bump there where she made some breaks (at Batavia in the New York Sire Stakes final and Yonkers in a NYSS leg), but otherwise she’s been doing great all year. She showed in the elimination that she’s good enough to race at this Grand Circuit level as well. She’s a very good horse.”
Melander also has the second choice of the race, Ohio Sire Stakes champion Setyoursightshigh at 7-2 from post nine, and Lainey W, who is 5-1 from post one.
“The nine holes could have been better, but we will have to go from there,” Melander said of Setyoursightshigh. “She’s good enough, so she can overcome it. She always gives it her all.”
In Saturday’s $600,000 final for 3-year-old male trotters, Melander’s trio of Super Chapter (5-2), Maryland (3-1) and Meshuggah (20-1) will start from the inside in their pursuit of 8-5 morning favorite Emoticon Legacy. Eliminations were not necessary for the event.
Super Chapter, winner of the MGM Yonkers Trot (G2) and second in the Hambletonian (G1), will start from post two with Dunn in the sulky. Maryland and driver Yannick Gingras have post three and Meshuggah and driver Zeron have post one.
Maryland, winner of the 2024 Breeders Crown and Dan Patch Award, is winless in eight races this year but has six seconds and a third. In his most recent start, on October 5 at the Kentucky Futurity, he was beaten by a neck by Emoticon Legacy in 1:49.2. Maryland has clocked 1:50.4 in five of its past six races and is the only trotter in history to be winless after running 1:50.4 or faster five times in a season, according to the U.S. Trotting Association Research Department.
“I feel sorry for Maryland,” Melander said. “He’s had great races all year and hasn’t gotten the win yet. Hopefully that can happen on Saturday. I think everyone has seen how well he’s raced, so I think he’ll be fine either way, but he deserves a big win.”
Melander’s other top Breeders Crown hopefuls, based on the morning line, are Periculum (5-2) in the $600,000 Open Trot and Date Night Hanover (4-1) in the $548,000 Mare Trot.
Date Night Hanover takes a nose victory in the Allerage Mare Trot in 1:49.2 on October 5 at The Red Mile. Periculum won the Allerage Open Trot in 1:49.3.
“She was barefoot the last time and we’ll probably go barefoot again on Saturday,” Melander said of Date Night Hanover. “She is a little sharper when she can race barefoot. She certainly played fantastic in the Allerage.”
Racing begins Friday and Saturday at Woodbine Mohawk Park at 6:35 p.m. For more information about the Breeders Crown, visit the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown website here and the Woodbine Mohawk Park website click here.
For full race entries, click here.
Through Ken Weingartnerfor Woodbine Entertainment
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