There is a bit of a scandal going on in the harness racing world that is perhaps being blown more out of proportion than necessary. It boils down to an off-the-cuff comment that certainly shouldn’t have been said but most definitely sounds worse without context. After Nordic Catcher S won the Hambletonian at The Meadowlands on August 2, the track’s CEO and President Jeff Gural, who is a co-owner, made the following statement while being interviewed: “I give Ake and Sarah all the credit and the trackman for watering the track the way Sarah likes it,” said Gural, referring to trainer Ake Svanstedt and his wife/assistant trainer Sarah Svanstedt. Wait, did Gural say that he set the track up for his own horse to have success in the Hambletonian? That was the take by some and perhaps a general audience with no further background. But can a track really be set up for one horse to succeed while others struggle? Doesn’t every trainer have the opportunity to warm up on the same track and evaluate options for equipment and shoeing? According to Sarah Svanstedt, there was no directive given to Gural about the track other than to remind his track crew that the track will need plenty of water because the sun would dry it out during the day. One could argue that a trainer shouldn’t need to tell the track maintenance crew what to do, but it is far from uncommon. When in the paddock you can often hear complaints from a number of individuals about the track needing more water or other modifications. What is a bit out of the ordinary is for the message to go through the owner of the track who happens to have horses racing on that card, but Sarah said she’s been a bit of a conduit for other drivers and trainers to Gural because of the Svanstedt’s relationship with Gural over the last decade. [DRF HARNESS: Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter] “Other horsemen know we have a relationship with Jeff and that I talk to him, so they come up to us to see if we can help improve the track. Top drivers ask us as well. Now I have somehow become the victim with people saying that we, the Svanstedts, create the surface for our horses. It is not for our horses. It is for all the horses. I feel bad for the horses because we can’t put Nike Air shoes on them. When they go high speeds on a hard surface it increases the risk of injuries. At Pocono or Red Mile, the horses love the track because there is a nice bounce-back in the surface,” said Sarah, who said she along with other trainers had a meeting a couple of months ago with trackman Gary Wolff. Sarah added that one of the problems is the stonedust surface in general. The stonedust material contains different-sized chips and when it isn’t watered enough it is creating a loose top surface and a hard bottom that makes horses slip. “When they fly around with the water truck the water doesn’t have a chance to hit the ground and the water isn’t serving the purpose of making the track good,” said Sarah. “The track needs a lot of water to create a healthy base under the surface. “It is for the horses,” she continued on the need for a soft track cushion beneath the surface. “My voice and care is for the horses. They can’t speak. Would you like to run on concrete with steel shoes?” Trainer Nancy Takter agreed with much of what Sarah mentioned and shared a list of talking points created before the meeting with Gural and the track superintendent Wolff. It outlined the core problem that the base is too hard and that the top layer is too loose, mentioned the speed and width of the watering, and the importance of beginning track maintenance hours before a card begins since horses start warming up approximately an hour before post time. Frankly, it was almost a handbook for care and maintenance of a track. “My problem with the track is that the base needs to be dug up,” said Takter. “Everybody always focuses on the top two inches of the track when the problem and the cushion comes from six to eight inches below the surface.” Those still concerned about watering should consider that astute followers of The Meadowlands know that the track responds very nicely to rain and water. Many of the fastest miles in the track’s history have come with the benefit of rain. In fact, the fastest mile in the history of the sport – Bulldog Hanover’s 1:45 4/5 record on July 16, 2022 at The Meadowlands – occurred on a track that had just taken some rain. As for the Hambletonian winner himself, most may have noticed he did not enter the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial at Pocono Downs on Saturday (Aug. 16). Following her plea about track conditions and the welfare of horses, Sarah called back with bad news. Nordic Catcher S, who established a new stakes record while winning the Hambletonian in 1:50, has suffered a tear of his suspensory and will miss the rest of 2025. “Since the Hambo he hasn’t been himself. When you are with horses all day, you know every inch of them. He had a very quiet week [leading up to the Hambletonian] but I said to Ake, he’s not himself. After the Hambo, he was not himself even more,” said Sarah, who took Nordic Catcher S to see Dr. Patty Hogan on Tuesday [Aug. 12] and received the news. “He is going to be out for the rest of this year but we’re planning to bring him back next year. It wasn’t a horrible injury and thankfully it will heal,” said Svanstedt. Nordic Catcher S has won five of 10 career starts while never finishing worse than third in his career. He currently leads all trotters in earnings with $573,322 made this year and has totaled $813,285 for his career. A son of Six Pack out of the Somebeachsomewhere mare That Woman Hanover, Nordic Catcher S is the second horse, joining Maximus Mearas S, to have a season-ending injury following the Hambletonian. He is also expected to return in 2026.