Lack of earnings cut Aetos Kronos S from Meadowlands Saturday feature, but Periculum and a three-horse Burke entry will be in the spotlight.

by Debbie Little

Prior to the draw for the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial at The Meadowlands, anticipation was high to see the rematch between European trotters Antognoni S and Aetos Kronos S. Unfortunately, for the fans of the two impressive older trotters, only Antognoni S will be going postward in Saturday’s (May 17) featured 10^th race, because money changed everything.

Prior to the draw for the Cutler, HRU spoke with Marcus Melander, trainer of Aetos Kronos S.

“My only concern here is that it might not be enough with the earnings he made last year and this year so far to get him in the race because it’s the top 11 earners,” Melander said. “I’m going to put him in, and hopefully he gets in. If he doesn’t get in, it is what it is. There’s only so much we can do, but we’ll try, at least, to put him in.”

According to the stakes conditions, “The eleven (11) highest 2024-2025 combined money winners (USTA records) declared will race at a distance of one mile.”

Aetos Kronos S, owned by Jeff and Michael Snyder, has been no worse than second in his three starts this year, including a victory last week in the winners-over handicap at The Meadowlands, but prior to coming to the States in late 2024, he only had three starts in Sweden.

“He actually came to me in October last year, so I had him all winter, and, because he was a stallion, he had to be in quarantine for five weeks,” Melander said. “So, he’s been here all winter, but then, of course, when we started racing him, we were still having him racing with shoes, when over there he did his best races without shoes. So, you know, that’s a factor that we can think about when we come to the big races.

“He’s a very nice horse to be around. He loves his work and it’ll be exciting even if he doesn’t get in [the Cutler]. He’s staked to most of the races during the year, so, hopefully, he’ll get in some at some point if he doesn’t race [in the Cutler].”

The presence of Antognoni S, owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, FAC Racing LLC and Yannick Gingras, will make the 28^thedition of the Cutler worthy of watching, as he’s been nothing short of sensational, winning three legs and the final of last month’s John Brennan Trotting Series at Yonkers, prior to a miscue in last week’s race won by Aetos Kronos S.

Regarding Antognoni S, trainer Ron Burke said he was surprised by the break, but it’s no big deal, and that’s when they got the gelded son of Father Patrick—Bouncing Bax last year, he did not expect him to be this good.

“No, we were looking for a horse to win through the condition races,” Burke said. “Honestly, we didn’t have to make the payment [to the Cutler] until we’d already raced him a couple of times. So, we knew that he was pretty special. His first qualifier when he trotted [his last quarter in :26.1], we were like, ‘This horse is special.’

“I don’t think we’ve gotten everything out of him yet. There’s still more there and he’s learning on the fly to adapt to our racing style and stuff, but I do think he’s very, very fast.

“The thing is, if you go through enough horses, you will find some that are way better buys than you thought, and there’ll be some that are way worse buys than you thought. Hopefully, you’re good at picking them and you do a good job, and I think my guys are as good as anybody or better at picking out horses, and then we just have to make them reach their potential, but sometimes you just pick bad ones and the other thing is you pick good ones and I can’t get them to reach their potential. It is what it is.”

The Burke Brigade purchased Antognoni S in 2024 and owned him for his last start in Sweden prior to being shipped to the States.

Burke said when it comes to his Cutler competition, he’s not concerned.

“That’s the one thing that I always say, I don’t worry about anybody else’s horses, I just worry about mine,” Burke said prior to the Cutler draw. “My goal was to get mine to the best of their ability and then let it fall where it may. I have too many horses of mine to worry about other people. To tell you the truth, I don’t even know who’s in the Cutler. I just know which three of mine are in.

In addition to Antognoni S (post 4, 4-1), Burke has Lexus Kody (post 2, 10-1) and Chapercraz (post 9, 5-1).

Even without Aetos Kronos S in the mix, there are still two entrants flying the flag of the Melander stable, the 7-2 favorite Periculum (post 5) and Oh Well (Post 10, 6-1).

Periculum, who won the 2024 Maple Leaf Trot, is coming into the Cutler off a lone winning qualifier at The Meadowlands on May 3 in 1:53.1.

“He obviously had a great year last year,” Melander said of Periculum. “He’s coming back well. He had that qualifier, and has been at The Meadowlands two times before that to train. I just thought he needed one qualifier and he should be ready for the Cutler. He’s coming back great and it’s going to be an exciting season for him.”

Oh Well finished third to Periculum in his first qualifier of the season, and also finished third in his second Meadowlands qualifier on May 10.

“He’s a little different type of horse,” Melander said of Oh Well. “He’s a little bit bigger and heavier than Periculum is, and it was the same last year. I was happy with his qualifier [on May 3], but it just felt like he needed another one to get him a little bit tighter.

“You know it’s the first year we have a bunch [racing in the older ranks]. Usually, we have more younger horses, and, you know, this year we have these three older ones. We also have S I P that’s staked a little bit… So, we have a bunch of older ones and a couple of 4-year-olds coming back and even a mare, Date Night Hanover, so it’s the first year we have a bunch in the older division too on both sides.”

When asked if he thought it was a disadvantage to have three that are this good in the same division, Burke said, “No, because I have other ones that may even be better than these three, and it doesn’t matter, you don’t ever have enough good horses. As soon as you say I have too many of these, one of them breaks down.”