Milton, ON – Super Chapter matched the track record for older trotting stallions and French Wine returned victorious to the site of his career’s biggest win when they won their respective C$50,000 eliminations for the Grade 1 Maple Leaf Trot on Friday night (Aug. 28) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Marcus Melander trainee Super Chapter swooped up the rim off quick fractions to coast home to victory with a 1:49.4 effort in his elimination.
Driver Dexter Dunn seated Super Chapter into third while Antognoni S looped out of the pocket for the lead through a :27.1 first quarter. Once on the point, Antognoni S maintained his speed to a :54.4 half and kept rolling through the last turn, where Dunn angled off the pylons and sent Super Chapter marching forward.
Antognoni S held a diminishing lead past three-quarters in 1:22.3 and gave way in the stretch once Super Chapter surged to the front. Dunn kept his charge to task as he strode in a half-length winner over fast-closing Emoticon Legacy in second. Go Dog Go shook free from a ground-saving trip for third with Up Your Deo coming from third-over for fourth and Antognoni S tiring but holding the last berth into the final.
“I think he showed last year that he was one of the better 3-year-olds,” Melander said after the race. “The way he’s coming back as a 4-year-old has just been great. He has the will to want to be first, and he went first-up against these horses again today and won easily. He’s a fantastic horse.”
A stallion by Chapter Seven-Lifetime Pursuit, Super Chapter equaled the mark for trotting stallions set by his stablemate Aetos Kronos S when he won his Maple Leaf Trot elimination in 2025. The current all-age track record of 1:49.1 was set in last year’s final by gelding Lexus Kody.
Super Chapter, competing for owners Jeff Snyder, Arthur Pronti and Hanover Shoe Farms, has now won four races from six starts this season and 18 races from 31 starts in his career, banking $2.10 million. He paid $2.90 to win.
French Wine, whose last victory came last year at Woodbine Mohawk Park when he rallied for a mild upset in the Breeders Crown Open Trot, soared from last to first down the center of the track to win the other Maple Leaf Trot elimination in 1:50.3.
Driver Jason Bartlett took back from the outermost draw in the sextet as odds-on favorite Lexus Kody muscled outside through a :26.3 first quarter to take the lead from Yo Tillie. Bartlett fished cover out of fifth from Aetos Kronos S after a :55.2 half and steadily inched into the action approaching three-quarters in 1:23.1. French Wine lifted off cover spinning for home and powered over the top to win going away by 1-3/4 lengths. Aetos Kronos S gave chase for second with Private Access rallying from a shuffle for third, Yo Tillie taking fourth and Lexus Kody holding onto the last spot into the final.
“We just had to beat one horse (to make the final) and the way they were mixing it up early was to our benefit going to the quarter,” Bartlett said after the race, “And having Dexter in front of us I knew I was going to get a good trip. Going into the last turn I was on a loose line a little bit and I touched him a couple times then he got around Dexter’s helmet. Halfway around the last turn I knew we had a good shot because he was actually pulling me and was ready to explode off the cover that we know he can do. No anxious moments down by the wire, he was flawlessly gaited and Nancy’s got him good.”
Nancy Takter trains French Wine, a 6-year-old stallion by Bar Hopping-Creamy Mimi who won his first race from four starts this season and his 17th race from 53 starts in his career to push his earnings to $1.66 million for owners Daniel & Jean Christophe Plouffe and One Legend Stable.
“It’s been a little bit of a challenge trying to keep him tight,” Takter said after the race. “When he raced in the Cashman he hadn’t raced since six weeks before and he didn’t even race very well. I don’t think that he’s at the top of his game just yet – hopefully we can get there – but he raced super tonight. I’m really happy with him.”
Sent the fourth choice in the betting, French Wine paid $13.70 to win.
Each elimination winner earned draw protection between posts 2 through 6 for the Grade 1 Maple Leaf Trot, which goes to final next Saturday (Sept. 5) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.