East Rutherford, NJ – Magic Punk had a superb season at 2 for trainer Ake Svanstedt, winning half of his eight starts as well as finishing second to division standouts Apex and Ardonne in the Peter Haughton and William Wellwood, respectively.
Saturday night (May 2) at The Meadowlands, as the track kicked off its Championship Meet, Magic Punk, making his seasonal debut, used a furious stretch rally to take the first significant 3-year-old open trotting stake of the season, the $157,125 Dexter Cup in an event record 1:53.1.
“(From a maturation standpoint he was) really nothing special because he was very all-around last year,” said Sarah Svanstedt. “You just want them to grow a little bit, and he has done that, and he is a talented horse, so he’s going to have a nice 3-year-old season.”
After winning the way he did, it certainly looks that way.
Sitting fifth in the eight-horse field early as Nordic Dancer S hit the quarter in :28.3, Magic Punk stayed glued to the rail as 8-5 second choice Southwind Alamo brushed from fourth to grab the lead at the half in :57.1. Midwind Chimp popped out of the fourth spot just before the five-eighths as Magic Punk looked to track that move, but gapped cover down the backstretch.
Southwind Alamo hit the gas as three-quarters went in 1:25.2 while Magic Punk got closer to his cover before swinging three-wide into the stretch drive.
Southwind Alamo looked like a tired horse with an eighth to go and by now, Ake, who drove the colt by Wishing Stone-I D Entity, had Magic Punk closing with a rush, and the 7-5 favorite drew off to a 1¾-length score over Southwind Alamo using a lightning-quick :26.4 final quarter to do it. Who’s Eyes Blues was third.
“He has been like the top three (trotting colts in our barn),” said Sarah. “So, everything has to, like, follow with the game plan, what they have to do going forward from here. But with this start now in early May, it’s of course nice to think about the future.”
Magic Punk returned $4.80 to his backers while raising his lifetime bankroll to just shy of $300,000.
YGRITTE GAME IN LADY SUFFOLK: Ygritte sat a three-hole to the half before traveling first-over on the way to a remarkably game performance to take the $67,650 Lady Suffolk for 3-year-old filly trotters.
“I mean, she showed a lot,” said winning driver Mattias Melander. “She’s just a fabulous filly. Got to love her.”
All Time Trot S, the even-money favorite, took the lead from Crossover (who hit the quarter in :28.3) before the half and reached that station in :57.2. She still led at three-quarters in 1:26.1, but after racing most of the stretch with a narrow advantage, could not hold off one last surge by Ygritte, who won by a neck in 1:53.3. Crossover was third.
“She showed a lot of toughness (through the stretch drive),” said Melander. “She knows what to do and she’s just very nice like that.”
Trained by Mattias’ brother, Marcus, Ygritte, who had only one start at 2 after sustaining an injury early on in the season, won for the second time from just three lifetime starts. The daughter of Gimpanzee-Etta Am S returned $35.80 as the 16-1 fourth choice in the wagering.
ANTOGNONI S WINS BATTLE OF THE BURKES: Antognoni S put on another awesome display of explosive speed, following up his season-opening 1:51.1 score on April 10 with an even more impressive performance in the $40,000 JL Cruze Open Handicap for trotters, taking down his Ron Burke-trained stablemate Lexus Kody, who was the 2025 Dan Patch Trotter of the Year.
“He’s a super-fast horse and his manners are getting really good now,” said winning driver and co-owner Yannick Gingras.
Antognoni S sat a three-hole trip and vacated the rail just as the field started to bend onto the far turn. With an electric burst of speed, he took the lead away from Lexus Kody at the top of the stretch before taking control at the eighth pole on the way to a 1½-length win in a lifetime-best 1:50.4. Ari Ferrari J was third.
“You know, Kody is still the horse to beat. It was his first start (of the year) tonight,” said Gingras. “He’s a couple of weeks behind this horse, but, you know, Kody can put (up) big fractions and live to talk about it. I don’t know if this horse can do that. But as far as when it turns into a sprint, I don’t think there’s many horses that can hold him out.”
Antognoni S, a 6-year-old gelded son of Father Patrick-Bouncing Bax, returned $2.40 as the 1-5 public choice. He’s now won 24 of 46 lifetime starts, good for earnings of just over $575,000.
A LITTLE MORE: Jason Bartlett and Joe Bongiorno topped the driver colony with three winners apiece. … All-source wagering topped the $3-million mark for the fourth time this year at The Big M, as $3,222,493 was pushed through the windows. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:35 p.m.