Meadowlands: Svanstedt trainees go 1-2 in NJSS final for 2YO male trotters
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Nordic Catcher, a Swedish-bred, wound up with dull cover, but it didn't matter as he rallied into the lead in the lane and easily took Saturday afternoon's $240,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes final for 2-year-old male trotters at the Meadowlands.
Driven by trainer Ake Svanstedt, Nordic Catcher got away in the fourth spot and watched as Onajetplane (Andy McCarthy), Yannick G Kemp (David Miller) and Go Boom (Dexter Dunn) each took a turn on the lead through opening-half fractions of 27 1/5 and 56 1/5. Dunn and Go Boom got separation on the rest of the pack going to the 1:25 2/5 three-quarters, while Svanstedt had to go three-wide to get around a stalled Onajetplane, who tried it first-over out of third on the final bend but stalled.
In the lane Nordic Catcher caught up quickly to Go Boom and went by him with little dispute. From there, Nordic Catcher was able to pull away and went on to a 3 1/4 length victory in 1:53 3/5, with fellow Svanstedt trainee Don't Ask For More (Tim Tetrick) up for second. 2-1 favorite Tactical Dynasty (Yannick Gingras) overcame a break on the first turn to get third, followed by Kevlar CCL (Andy Miller) and Sky Legacy (Scott Zeron).
"He's a very good horse. The first time I trained him here at the Meadowlands I felt he was something special," remarked Svanstedt. "He can race from both in the front and from behind. It feels like he does his best every time."
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By Svanstedt's world champion Six Pack, Nordic Catcher is out of a pacer - the Somebeachsomewhere mare That Woman Hanover. She earned over $221,000 in her career with a mark of 1:50 flat.
"I bought him in Sweden. I looked in the sales catalog and found a Six Pick. It was a pacing mother, so someone brought the pacing mare to Sweden for breeding," Svanstedt said. "I think he has four sisters in Canada that are pacers."
Also owned by Svanstedt in partnership with Little E LLC., Nordic Catcher, who was bred by Nordic Horse Farm Ab and Joie De Vie Farm LLC., has two wins and a second from three starts and has earned $138,750. He paid $7.80 to win as the 5-2 co-second choice.