by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

East Rutherford, NJ — Sebastian K cruised right to the finish line to win the $300,650 John Cashman Jr. Memorial for older trotters by open lengths on Saturday (Aug. 2) at The Meadowlands. The time, 1:50, tied the all-age world record for a mile oval.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Sebastian K tied the mile track all-age trotting world record of 1:50 in the John Cashman Jr. Memorial.

Archangel was first to the lead, with Yannick Gingras sending him to the :26.2 first quarter. Sebastian K (Ake Svanstedt) tucked in behind him and Market Share (Tim Tetrick) was in third along the rail. That group led the field to the :54.4 half.

At about the five-eighths-mile marker, Svanstedt was looking over his right shoulder to see if there was an impending challenge to the lead. He then tipped his trotter off the rail to come alongside and then pulled ahead of Archangel just past the 1:22.4 three-quarters.

From there, it was a futile pursuit for the field, as Svanstedt shook the lines a little and got a fast trip to the winner’s circle to win by 4-1/4 lengths. Market Share was second and Archangel third.

Sebastian K is owned by Knutsson Trotting of Vero Beach, Fla. The win was the seventh in eight season’s starts for the 8-year-old son of Korean-Gabriella K. He has now banked $502,603 in 2014 and $2.79 million lifetime.

In a winner’s circle punctuated by bright blue and yellow flags of his native Sweden, Svanstedt, holding his toddler-age son, Jonas, said, “He (Archangel and Gingras) left very fast and he pushed his horse, so I just took it easy.”

Asked if the horse might be back racing again at age 9, he said, “I don’t know. The owners will decide that and the horse, too. He’s been good all year. Every race this year, he was very good. At the end of November, we’ll see what condition we have.

“We’re not going to race one month. We have raced every weekend in four weeks now, so it’s too much for him. He gets a break now.”

Tim Tetrick drove the 2012 Hambletonian winner Market Share to a second-place finish.

“I sent him because with the nine (post) it was the only chance I had to get him in the race. I was very happy with him and thought he raced great.”

“That’s what happens when you can’t pick your post,” said Market Share’s trainer, Linda Toscano. “When you have the nine, racing against those two horses, you know it’s going to be tough but I couldn’t be happier with how he raced.”