Meadowlands: Apex by a nose in record-setting Hambletonian

Apex captured the $1 million Grade 1 Winning Key Farm Hambletonian Stakes, for 3-year-old trotters, on Saturday (Aug. 8) at the Meadowlands, holding off favorite Big Ranger by a nose in a stakes-record 1:49 2/5.

Minoan finished third, 4 1/4 lengths behind the top two finishers.

Apex's effort gave trainer Marcus Melander and driver Dexter Dunn their first Hambletonian wins. Melander had finished second in America's Trotting Classic four times, including three of the past four years.

Two races prior to the Hambletonian, Melander-trained Nezuko Kamado S won the filly companion race, the Hambletonian Oaks, by a neck over Carve. Melander became the fourth trainer in history to win the Hambletonian and Oaks in the same year, joining Jimmy Takter (twice), Jim Campbell and Jan Johnson.

Dunn became the first driver since Mike Lachance in 2003 to win the Meadowlands Pace (in July with Brandon Blvd) and the Hambletonian in the same year.

In the Hambletonian, Big Ranger went to the front on the first turn, but Dunn kept Apex in motion and led that rival by a parked-out nose as he reached the opening quarter in 26 4/5. Apex was a length in front at the half in 54 3/5 and at three-quarters in 1:22 4/5, but Tim Tetrick was charging first-over with Big Ranger and the two were separated by a nose in the stretch, setting up their toe-to-toe fight to the finish.

Following a lengthy photo-finish review, Apex's No. 3 lit the top spot on the tote board. In addition to a stakes record, the final time of 1:49 2/5 set the track record for a 3-year-old trotter and was only one-fifth of a second off the world record.

"Thank God we got there," Melander said. "It was tight. He has the will to win, and he put his nose first.

"I didn't think he held on, but he's a big fighter. He fights all the way to the finish line."

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

Dunn also was uncertain about the outcome after crossing the finish line.

"I was probably 5% that I'd won and 95 that I got beat," he said. "It's amazing. The feelings that ran through me when I was told I won it; there's no better feeling. I watched this race when I was a kid back in New Zealand, and to be here and win it, it's incredible.

"He's so strong, this horse, and I had full confidence in him. He was pretty racy today. It was two great horses coming up the straight there. That was one hell of a battle."

Added Melander, "I was very confident in the horse. He had a good week and he warmed up good. I didn't know how the race was going to play out, but he's a very strong horse, and he'll fight. He's both strong and fast. But his strength is his big thing; his heart, his lungs and the will to win. He has everything a champion horse needs. He's definitely a champion."

Apex, the 2025 Dan Patch Award winner for best 2-year-old male trotter, has won 10 of 14 career races and earned $1.61 million for owners Jeff Snyder, S R F Stable and Steve Stewart. The son of Walner, out of Mission Brief (who was second in the 2015 Hambletonian), was bred by Mission Brief Stable, a group that also includes Stewart.

"We bred Mission Brief, so we've had the family," Stewart said. "It's been a great ride, for sure. But the best thing is, partners like these (Apex) guys and the ones we have with Mission Brief, that means the world to us."

Snyder has won many of the sport's premier races, but this was his first Hambletonian.

"It's a very special moment," Snyder said. "This is the apex of our career, our life, of the horses we've raced. It's just amazing. He was super. All credit goes to Marcus Melander, Dexter Dunn and the entire Melander team.

"We thought Apex was the winner, by a long nose. We were watching it from the finish line, and I thought that he had it. But then when the photo didn't come up, it was a long four-minute wait. We started to sweat it out a little bit. But then I saw Marcus putting the blanket on him, looking confident, so we felt like we had the race won."

Sent off as the 5-2 second choice behind 3-5 favorite Big Ranger, Apex paid $7.80 to win.