Hightstown, NJ – Thirty-two 4-year-olds have tried to upend their older rivals and win the Maple Leaf Trot since Market Share became the last of their age group to capture the race in 2013.
Based on the morning-line odds for this year’s C$620,000 Grade 1 Maple Leaf Trot final, that 12-race skid could come to an end Saturday (Sept. 5) at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Of the four horses with morning-line odds of less than 10-1, three are 4-year-olds, including pre-race favorite Super Chapter, at 6-5, and second-choice Emoticon Legacy, at 5-2.
Super Chapter won his Maple Leaf Trot elimination by a half-length over Emoticon Legacy in 1:49.4 last week, equaling the Canadian trotting record by a stallion. Four-year-old Go Dog Go finished third in that elim and is the final’s fourth choice on the morning line, at 8-1.
The group of 4-year-olds in the final also includes Yo Tillie, the lone female in the race, who finished fourth in her elimination, which was won by 6-year-old French Wine in 1:50.3. French Wine is 5-1 on the morning line.
“All the 4-year-olds raced pretty good in the eliminations, I think,” said Marcus Melander, who trains Super Chapter. “It’s a good group. We saw that last year with the 3-year-olds; it was a great crop. Some of them went to stud, but some of them are back and have been racing great.”
Super Chapter, a Dan Patch Award winner as a 3-year-old, has four wins and two second-place finishes this season. Both losses were by a neck to On To Norway, in the Grade 2 Graduate Series final and the Grade 1 Hambletonian Maturity. Those races were restricted to 4-year-olds, but since then, Super Chapter has defeated older rivals in the Grade 1 Cashman Memorial and his Maple Leaf Trot elimination.
For his career, the son of Chapter Seven-Lifetime Pursuit has hit the board in 28 of 31 races, winning 18 and earning $2.10 million. Super Chapter will start from post 2 in the Maple Leaf Trot final, with Dexter Dunn in the sulky.
“He showed all last year that he was a great horse,” Melander said. “The plan wasn’t to bring him back, the plan was for him to go to stud, so he came in (to begin training) a little bit later than everyone else. But you felt pretty much right away that he came back good. He’s always been an easy horse to train.
“Obviously, he went a great mile last week, and he came out of it great. He stayed up in Canada, and he seems to like it up there. He’s very good at taking care of himself between races.”
In addition to having one of the youngest horses in the 10-horse Maple Leaf Trot field, Melander will send out the oldest in 10-year-old Aetos Kronos S. The son of Bold Eagle-Will Of A Woman finished second behind French Wine last week.
Aetos Kronos S is winless in seven races this season but has five top-three finishes and $110,696 in purses, pushing his lifetime earnings to $1.76 million. He will leave from post 1 on Saturday with driver Andrew McCarthy.
“The old man is doing great,” Melander said. “He was fantastic in his elimination, racing first-over; I couldn’t be happier with him. I know he hasn’t won a race this year so far, but he’s actually raced so well so many times. To win a race like this, he needs the trip, but don’t count him out. If he gets the trip, he always does his best. He’s a horse anyone would be happy to train because he just loves what he’s doing out there.”
Emoticon Legacy, who was an O’Brien Award winner at age 3, has one win and four second-place finishes this year for trainer Luc Blais and driver Bob McClure. He trotted the fastest last quarter, :26.2, in the Maple Leaf Trot eliminations and will start the final from post 3. For his career, the son of Walner-Emoticon Hanover has hit the board in 17 of 22 races, winning 12 and earning $1.17 million.
“Last week he raced super good,” Blais said. “I think with every race he’s getting better and better. He looks strong, he looks sharper. He feels good right now. We’ll see. I’ve got a good feeling, but it’s a good bunch of horses in that race. You need a trip, you need everything almost perfect, with that group of horses.”
French Wine, who won the 2025 Breeders Crown Open Trot at Mohawk, will begin the Maple Leaf Trot from post 6, with Jason Bartlett driving for trainer Nancy Takter. The son of Bar Hopping-Creamy Mimi has a win and a third from four starts this year. Lifetime, he has 41 top-three finishes, with 17 victories, and $1.66 million in purses.
The field also includes the 2025 Maple Leaf Trot champ, Lexus Kody. He was fifth in the elimination won by French Wine and will leave from post 4 with Tim Tetrick driving for trainer Ron Burke. The 8-year-old son of Archangel-Lexus Helios is 15-1 on the morning line.
Saturday’s Mohawk card also features the C$705,000 Canadian Pacing Derby (G1) for older male pacers, C$255,000 Milton Stakes (G2) for older female pacers, and C$140,000 Simcoe Stakes (G3), for 3-year-old trotters. For a Standardbred Canada feature on Milton morning-line favorite Francent N, click here.
Racing begins at 6:30 p.m. (EDT). For free Woodbine Mohawk Park programs, click here.