East Rutherford, NJ – After winning four of seven starts and banking just over $175,000 as a 2-year-old in 2024, it looked like American Son was going to have a solid career on the racetrack.
But after a 3-year-old season that saw the son of American Ideal-Lady Captain win just once from five outings, his connections no doubt were looking to get back on track in this, his 4-year-old campaign.
It appears that things might be turning around.
The Chris Ryder-trained, Patrick Ryder-driven American Son made his way into the winner’s circle for the first time in 2026 in the Thursday night (Aug. 6) feature at the Meadowlands, a $12,500 pace for horses with a TrackMaster rating of 83.5 or less.
Patrick Ryder sat patiently in the three hole to the half-mile mark, rushed up first-over to take the lead away from Goodbye Stranger at three-quarters, before striding clear to an authoritative 3-1/4-length win in 1:51 over Euphoria N. Our Sweet Delight A was third.
“He felt super tonight. I think we finally have him on the right track,” the driver said. “It’s been a long road. He raced brilliantly tonight. We would love it if he could have a really good second half of the year. That’s the idea. We’d love to bring him down to Kentucky and get him involved in some of those stakes races.”
After scoring for the first time this season in nine tries, American Son now has six wins from 21 lifetime starts. He has amassed $228,816 in earnings for owner Henderson Farms. As the 6-5 favorite, he returned $4.40 to win.
A LITTLE MORE: Compensate Me closed along the inside to record an upset score in the secondary feature, a TM 80.5 on the pace. The 4-year-old gelded son of Sweet Lou-Breakheart Pass stopped the clock in a lifetime-best 1:50.3 and paid $22.20 to win for driver Vinny Ginsburg and trainer Cory Stratton. … Brett Beckwith is well on his way to taking home a second straight title as top driver for the Winter-Spring-Championship Meet. His four winners were the most among the pilots on the card and he now has 100 victories on the year. … Per Engblom and Stacy Chiodo topped the trainers, as each took two walks down victory lane. … All-source handle on the 14-race program totaled $1,426,933. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m. (EDT). … Saturday (Aug. 8) post time is noon for Hambletonian Day.