Zeron will reconnect with Meshuggah and Captain Optimistic in the Matron Stakes final for 3-year-olds at Bally’s Dover on Thursday, followed by a group with stakes winners Twin B Seven Sins, Maximus Miki and Periculum for Saturday’s Fall Final Four/FanDuel championships at The Meadowlands.
Meshuggah, who lit up the board with Zeron at 62-1 in the Breeders Crown last month, is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line in the $163,050 Matron Stakes for 3-year-old male trotters, a Grade 3 race. Of his last three starts he has won two, both in 1:50.1, for trainer Marcus Melander.
His score of 1:50.1 in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Oct. 25 was a stakes record and the biggest setback in the history of the three-year-old male trotting final. It also gave Zeron a Breeders Crown triumph for the sixth consecutive year, the second-longest current streak for a driver behind only Dexter Dunn’s seven.
This year, Meshuggah has been on the board in seven of 13 races, including three wins and three seconds, earning $551,165, bringing his lifetime purse to $874,533. The son of Green shoe-Starita leaves from post one in the Matron.
“It’s probably not the best spot to have in Dover, but he’s coming in great shape,” Zeron said. “If you kept a close eye on him, or maybe like me you had to sit behind him, he was in excellent form in his last few starts (prior to the Breeders Crown). He was a bit of a product of racing all year against perhaps one of the best crops of three-year-old trotters, but he flew well even though he might not have won.
“He is extremely professional to drive. He makes my job easy by having good manners. Hopefully we can follow up the great win we had in the Breeders Crown with another one here.”
Meshuggah’s millionaire stablemate Super Chapter, who finished second in the Breeders Crown, is the 5-2 favorite in the morning line in the Matron. He will start from post two with Dunn in the sulky for Melander.
Captain Optimistic, who won the Monument Circle (G2) at Harrah’s Hoosier Park in his most recent start on Oct. 31, is the 9-2 third choice in the $149,350 Matron Stakes for 3-year-old male pacers. Captain Optimistic, a son of Captain treacherous-Cinamony, trained by Nancy Takter, also counts the Cane Pace among his five wins this season. He has totaled 13 times on the board in 17 races, including a third-place finish in the Breeders Crown and Little Brown Jug finals, earning $571,210.
“He’s just a model of consistency,” Zeron said. “If he hasn’t won, he’s been knocking on the door and putting in some really good efforts. I’ve only been behind him for the last half of his year, but he’s a super fun horse to ride. He’s a great athlete. You never know how a horse comes out of Little Brown Jug, but he’s been great ever since. I really like his spot on Thursday.”
Captain Optimistic will start the Matron from station four. Breeders Crown runner-up Dandy Ideal, the 5-2 favorite in the morning line, starts from post five with Jason Bartlett riding for trainer Hunter Oakes. Prince Hal Hanover, the second choice at 7-2, will start from post six with Todd McCarthy riding for trainer Ian Moore.
Dover is also hosting Grade 2 Matrons for 3-year-old female trotters and pacers on Thursday. Monalishi is the 5-2 morning line favorite in the $132,350 trotting event (with Zeron riding Highlandstarburst, 12-1) and Rodeo Drive Deo is the 5-2 choice in the $130,350 pace event.
On Saturday at The Meadowlands, Zeron will line up behind two of this year’s four richest older horses, pacer Maximus Miki and trotter Periculum, in the Grade 1 FanDuel final.
Six-year-old Maximus Miki advances to the $350,000 FanDuel Open Pace Championship with a victory in the Potomac Pace (G3) on Nov. 2 at Rosecroft Raceway. The Tom Cancelliere trainee also captured the Canadian Pacing Derby, Hoosier Park Pacing Derby and a division of the William R. Haughton Memorial this season on his way to $605,608 in earnings.
He starts from post four in the FanDuel, which also features Breeders Crown champion Ervin Hanover (the richest senior pacer this season, with $844,718), as well as fellow stakes winners Captain Albano, Ken Hanover and Oakwood Ardan IR, plus 2024 Dan Patch Award winner Abuckabett Hanover.
“He’s great right now,” Zeron said of Maximus Miki. “He’s a big horse and carries his speed so well. He’s not the fastest among that group of horses, but when you get the big train going, he really keeps that speed. He’s a horse that, if he’s a few yards away, or maybe even three, on the way home, he can wear one out because he won’t slow down. He’ll keep his speed right down to the wire.”
“He’s a really fun horse to get behind. With horses like him, you don’t really get nervous when you’re competing. They’re very robotic, you can do whatever you want with them, and they’re very consistent. It was a fun ride.”
Periculum, a 6-year-old who has earned $755,777 this season, has finished worse than second just once in 10 races in 2025. He won the Allerage Open Trot (G3) in a career-best 1:49.3 on Oct. 5 at The Red Mile and was second in the Breeders Crown final for older trotters, a neck behind French Wine, on Oct. 25 at Mohawk. Other victories for Periculum include the John Cashman Memorial in 1:49.3 on August 2 at The Meadowlands.
He will start from post four in the $350,000 FanDuel Open Trot Championship, which also includes French Wine and millionaire Lexus Kody.
“That’s a nice place for him,” Zeron said. “He has qualified very well recently (in 1:52.2 on November 8 at The Meadowlands). He always races well. The reason he is so good is because his manners are incredibly good. He is not a front-end horse and he dictates that, I don’t. That is why he has been so durable. He always makes nice rides and stays fresh.”
Zeron’s other rides on Saturday include Twin B Seven Sins – who won the Kindergarten Classic Series final on November 1 at odds of 87-1 for Zeron and trainer Noel Daley – in the $421,000 Valley Victory for 2-year-old male trotters, graded stakes winner Nezuko Kamado S for trainer Melander in the $462,000 Goldsmith Maid for 2-year-old female trotters, Perfect Thought for trainer Megan Scran in the $357,000 Three Diamonds for 2-year-old female pacers, and Turn The Page N for trainer Heidi Cushing in the $175,000 FanDuel Mare Pace Championship. The events for the 2 year olds are Grade 1, the FanDuel Mare Pace is Grade 2.
Racing begins at 6:20 PM (EST) at The Meadowlands. Visit The Big M’s website for free past performances here.
Racing starts at 4:30 PM (EST) at Bally’s Dover. For free performances from the past, click here.
Through Ken Weingartnerfor the USTA
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