by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — A three month trip to America has lasted nearly a decade for Susanne Strandqvist, and her presence in the States has made quite an impact on Bob Giannoulis, Sam Stathis and a colt trotter named Celebrity Maserati.

Stathis owns and operates Celebrity Farms near Goshen, N.Y. Susanne is his trainer and Giannoulis is Strandqvist’s assistant — and also her husband.

Strandqvist’s prize pupil is this year’s winner of the Dexter Cup for 3-year-old trotters, as Celebrity Maserati (driven by Tom Jackson) won on Saturday at Freehold Raceway in 1:58.3. In the kickoff to the Hambletonian Stakes at the Meadowlands, Celebrity Maserati beat favored Dontyouforgetit by 2-1/4 lengths. Both horses are eligible for the Hambo in August.

Susanne Strandqvist has trained 16 winners in her career to earnings of $309,836.

If Strandqvist had stuck to either one of her location plans, however, she and Celebrity Maserati would never have met. And Strandqvist never would have become the first female trainer to win the Dexter Cup.

Born in Sweden, Susanne’s father was a trainer and had a barn with more than 40 horses. She began to help him train and also started driving.

“I used to drive the pony races,” she said. “When I got older we went to the big harness horses and I used to drive races in Sweden. I drove over 200 races.”

There was only one problem with that scenario.

“I don’t drive anymore,” she said, “because I don’t really like it.”

In 2004 her dad wanted to cut back on his workload and was looking for someone to take over the main operation. Susanne wasn’t sure if she wanted the responsibility and decided to take a break, visit America and think about it.

“I planned on coming over here for three months,” she said. “And 10 years later I’m still here!”

Strandqvist worked for various trainers when she first arrived and along the way met Bob through a mutual friend. The two got married and Bob had a couple strong pacers they were working with. After selling them, Susanne began thinking she wanted to return to Sweden.

“We were looking to start training and working for people here,” she said. “But then I got a good offer in Sweden and was thinking I would move home again. I missed my family. But then we said we’d take a shot.”

And so, a second return to Sweden was postponed.

Celebrity Maserati was a 1:58.3 winner in the Dexter Cup.

They got an apartment in Goshen, just down the road from Celebrity Farms. Bob and Stathis had been friends for a long time. Sam offered them some work “and now we’re here.”

“The offer came just after we got the apartment,” Susanne said. “It was like a slipping on a banana peel type of thing. We were going back and forth. Do we want to stay here? Go back to Sweden? When the offer came it was a very good opportunity.

“I like it here. It’s a very nice home. It took a while to turn the barn around, but now it’s paying off. Sam is very patient.”

They are currently conditioning 15 horses.

“Bob has had pacers and I’ve had trotters, so it works out well,” Susanne said. “He helps me out. He’s like my second trainer, my right-hand man.”

The two came on board just prior to when Celebrity Maserati was purchased — under the name Meridian — for $45,000 at the 2011 Standardbred Horse Sale. He is a son of stallion Andover Hall out of the multiple-stakes-winning mare Arlanda Hanover, and is a full brother to Orlando, who was second in the 2010 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship for 2-year-old male trotters.

Last year, Celebrity Maserati was winless in six races but was being brought along slowly by Strandqvist.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photos

Susanne Standqvist and her Dexter Cup champion, Celebrity Maserati.

“He got hurt early in the year,” she said. “His front leg was hurt and we had to scratch him four days before the (Pennsylvania) All Stars. He came back, we thought he’d be a good stakes horse, but he didn’t show his full potential. We just took it easy to get him some experience. His last race was good, he finished second.”

Heading into the Dexter Cup, Susanne and Bob felt the horse had a shot because of how he handles a half-mile track.

“He didn’t prove us wrong,” she said. “I think he could have gone faster if he had to.”

It was a great start to a season in which Celebrity Maserati is also staked to the Hambletonian, Breeders Crown, Colonial, Earl Beal Jr. Memorial, Matron and Stanley Dancer.

“He’s a happy-go-lucky horse,” Strandqvist said. “He loves life, he’s just happy as can be. If you try to walk him he goofs off, but on the track he’s all business. He’s just an unbelievable horse when he gets on that track.”

Fortunately for the horse, he got the right trainer thanks to a couple changes of plans.