Breeders Crown: Super Chapter headlines big Scioto weekend for Melander, Dunn

Da-da-da! Dum-da-dum! Da-da-da, Super Chapter!

He isn't a bird. He isn't a plane. He certainly isn't a man. Super Chapter is a 4-year-old male trotter who sits atop the 2026 Standardbred earnings leaderboard with $1,191,707 and has dominated his peers since late summer like Superman overpowers evil villains in the mythical world of Metropolis.

On Saturday in the $600,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot, Super Chapter will place his five-race win streak on the line as he tries to cement his claim to not only divisional honors but perhaps Horse of the Year. The son of Chapter Seven will start from post eight versus eight rivals as the 2-1 morning line choice to capture the Crown for trainer Marcus Melander and driver Dexter Dunn.

Bred and co-owned by Hanover Shoe Farms, which shares ownership with Jeff Snyder and Arthur Pronti, the connections of Super Chapter have made the most of an unfortunate situation. After winning 14 of 25 races and over $1.7 million as a 2- and 3-year-old, Super Chapter was supposed to become a stallion at Hanover, but plans and reality often fail to meet. Super Chapter's morphology, which refers to the size and the shape of the sperm cells, didn't come back strong.

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"He was basically immature. We're expecting his fertility to be perfect this year, which happens with many cases," said Snyder, who compared the situation to 2024 Hambletonian winner Karl, who wasn't necessarily ready for stallion duty at age 4 but bred a full book of mares the following year. "If everything goes well, goes perfect, we plan to stand him next year."

Fertility setback aside, Super Chapter hasn't missed a beat on the track this year, winning seven of nine races. Melander says the horse was not only eager to return to the races but was physically more imposing as a 4-year-old.

"Obviously he came in late [due to test breeding] and when he came from Hanover, it was mid-February. The other ones had been training for a while, like our 3-year-olds and all of them," said Melander. "It was maybe a month and a half later that you could really see he started to fill out even more."

Perhaps some of the proof that Super Chapter has taken his game to another level is that he has won three times in 2026 under the 1:50 mark, something he never accomplished as a 3-year-old.

"He's really just got everything you could possibly want. He's fast, he's quick, and he's got great stamina. He's can do it on the front, he can do it from behind. He's just a perfect trotter," said Dunn. "When you drive horses like him they just fill you with confidence. They make your job easy and they can overcome adversity on the race track; it's a big help."

There are many options for Super Chapter beyond 2026 if the breeding possibility fails to launch. He, of course, could compete in many of the same Grand Circuit stakes as this year or perhaps travel abroad for races like the Elitlopp at Solvalla in Sweden on the last Sunday in May.

"That would be exciting," said Snyder on the prospect of going to the Elitlopp. "It's been an amazing run. You very rarely see 4-year-olds beating older horses like he has been doing. And he beat a lot of the best horses in the world recently for fun in the International. So, either way [breeding or racing in 2027], it's a win-win situation with him, and he's just been a very exciting horse for us."

"We've been racing him pretty easy, so I definitely think he would have at least another season in him," said Melander. "I think he can be at least as good as he's been this year because he's takes care of himself. He's a sound horse and just the type of horse you wish all of them were like because he's so easy to maintain.

"Obviously I'd like to race him another season. I think he's such a fun horse to go and race. And I think a lot of people like him too, like to see him race and enjoy watching him."

Before any consideration for 2027 will begin, Super Chapter must seal the deal in the Breeders Crown on Saturday. He'll have to deal with elimination winner Emoticon Legacy, who had his number in the Kentucky Futurity last year, and On To Norway, who bettered Super Chapter twice this year and is the fastest trotter in North American history (1:48 3/5).

"Of course, it would have been nice to have [post] three or four, but I think he was so good at Dayton and he's been good all year," said Melander. "He lost two races earlier against On To Norway, but since then he's just been fantastic week after week. So, I think he can overcome [post eight]."

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Super Chapter is just one of many major contenders being driven by Dunn or trained by Melander. These include the second- and third-richest horses of the year - Brandon Blvd and Apex.

Brandon Blvd is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the $664,500 Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Pace despite coming in 1 1/2 lengths behind Melillo in his elimination on October 17. In that race Dunn sat fourth behind slow fractions for more than five-eighths of the mile before launching a wide bid on the final turn to no avail.

"I probably wish I could've keep punching forward early with how slow the second quarter was. Hindsight's always easier afterwards. But he raced great, felt great, came a great back-half, and he's still going to be ready to roll on Saturday night," said Dunn.

Trained by Andrew Harris, Brandon Blvd (post four) will again meet Melillo (post two) along with Little Brown Jug winner Al Papi (post five) and elimination winner Gentleman's Club (post one), who set a track record with his 1:48 3/5 win last week.

Melander and Dunn team up a total of five times over the two-night Breeders Crown, including with Apex in the $664,500 3-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Trot. The Hambletonian winner this year has been struggling since that record-setting victory in 1:49 2/5 over Big Ranger, and he came up a neck short in his elimination despite setting pedestrian fractions as Diabolic Hill surged up the passing lane.

"He had some blood spots there. Before the [Hambletonian], if you look at the lines, he came home in 25 4/5, 26 1/5, 26 3/5, like every start. After the Hambo, it's not been bad, but it's been 27 3/5, 27 3/5, 27 2/5 - he just hasn't really fired the last one-eighth like he used to do. He got very tired in the Hambo, and he might have bled. We're going to put him on Lasix and hopefully that will help him a little bit," said Melander, who said they never scoped Apex between the Hambletonian win and his Breeders Crown elimination. "We never scope them after the race if they never show any sickness or anything. You don't want to put a hose down there if you don't have to."

Apex starts from post six as the 7-2 second choice while Big Ranger (post two) was installed as the 8-5 favorite. Other contenders include Inexpressable (post four), fellow Melander trainees Nix Nacken (post five) and American Power (post one), and Diabolic Hill (post three).

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The dynamic duo of Dunn and Melander will also pair with major contenders Blue Ranger in the $700,000 Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Filly Trot, Setyoursightshigh in the $664,500 3-Year-Old Filly Trot and Tactical Moni in the $400,000 Mare Trot.

"It felt like [Blue Ranger] had a little dip after the sire stakes win going to Hoosier, but she feels like she's back again," said Melander, who also sends out fellow elimination winner Two Day Hangover and Birr Castle, who took a bye into the final. "[Two Day Hangover] maybe had a little bit of a dip as well there, even if she's been racing good. Even if she races good on the bigger tracks, she has such great technique that the five-eighths (mile track) really benefits her as well. All three of my fillies have raced great on a five-eighths before."

The numbers are down from three to two for Melander in the 3-Year-Old Filly Trot, but he remains confident with the favorite in Nezuko Kamado (post four) and Setyoursightshigh (post six).

"Nezuko raced great, first-over, and it was nice to see her get back to winning a race. She really got around Scioto good. I'm confident going into the race. Setyoursightshigh raced good, first-over as well, and got second. She's raced good all year as well. They're both in good form, so it will be exciting," said the trainer.

Tactical Moni is Melander's lone entrant in the Mare Trot but he heads into the final confident after a stellar prep in 1:51 over the Scioto Downs surface.

"It was a prep race, but she looked good doing it and looked very strong on the front. We closed her up a little bit, tried that, and Dexter was very happy with her," said Melander, who will send out Tactical Moni from post one with shoes on. "She was awesome with shoes on in her elimination so she will go with them again."

With Melander focused on trotters, Dunn hooks up with a number of other barns to compete in many of the pacing finals. His top contenders outside of Brandon Blvd include Blazin Lou, Hope Hill, Twin B Joe Fresh and Ervin Hanover.

"It was a very impressive [elimination] mile and I was really happy with his performance," said Dunn about Blazin Lou, who starts from post one in the $700,000 2-Year-Old Colt Pace.

"She's been racing great all year, to be fair," said Dunn about $664,500 3-Year-Old Filly Pace starter Hope Hill (post three), shrugging off the thought that the filly has only recently been good. "She put in some great miles at Oak Grove. She was chasing Miss Jum Jabber at Red Mile in the Kentucky Sire Stakes. She's just really in a good zone right now."

"It's been once in a lifetime owning her. She's just an out and out champion and I think right now she's the best she's been all year," said Dunn about $400,000 Mare Pace starter Twin B Joe Fresh (post six), who he co-owns.

"It's a tough class. There are no easy miles," said Dunn when asked about the somewhat up and down form of $600,000 Open Pace entrant Ervin Hanover (post nine). "He didn't win the other night, but he was right there at the finish and he's been feeling great lately. He's not far away. He just needs the right trip and for things to work out for him."

The Open Pace is the final Breeders Crown race of the weekend. Both nights start at 6:00 P.M. (EDT), with the Friday Crown races scheduled as 7 and 9-11, and the Saturday Crowns spanning from races 3 to 10. Wagering opportunities include $185,000 in guaranteed multi-race bets over the course of the two nights.