Two of the sport's leading trainers are in a unique position on Saturday night as the Meadowlands hosts the finals of the Stan Bergstein Graduate Series for both pacers and trotters. Trainer Nancy Takter has a pair of 4-year-olds that raced for different trainers as sophomores entered in the $230,000 trot final while Brett Pelling has a duo of pacers with slightly different origins. Sabonis, a champion in Indiana as a sophomore, debuted as a 4-year-old for him and Arbitrage Hanover raced in his stable at 2 and 3 but was sold and in trainer Rob Fellows care until returning to him for two Graduate legs. That pair put Pelling in solid position for the $230,000 pace final. "He was the one horse that worried me last year," said Takter when describing Highland Kismet, the runner-up to her Karl in last year's Hambletonian. Highland Kismet has been with Takter for just over a month, and thus far the results have been spotty to say the least. Highland Kismet broke in his first qualifier and a Graduate division before Takter shedded the hopples and entered the Father Patrick-sired gelding in a qualifier at the Meadowlands on June 27. "He was much better in the qualifier," said Takter of a horse that she still considers a work in progress. "I'd say he's about 85 percent to where we like our horses to be." While Highland Kismet sometimes has a mind of his own, Takter said that the gelding hasn't made a break while training. Dexter Dunn drove Highland Kismet in his qualifier and is listed to drive on Saturday from post three. Gruesome Twosome, a 12-time winner as a sophomore while racing primarily in Indiana, has a second- and fourth-place finish in a pair of Graduate legs, and Takter believes he's moving in the right direction. "I thought he was super in his last start (June 21). He raced hard to get the front at the half and then got shuffled and locked in," Takter said about Gruesome Twosome, who drew post seven with Yannick Gingras in the bike. In between Takter's pair are the likely favorites in Private Access (post five) and Sir Pinocchio (post six). Following a sophomore campaign that saw him win just once, Private Access has been superb this year, winning all three preliminary legs of the Graduate Series, with his 1:50 2/5 victory on June 21 a career-best effort. Luc Blais trains Private Access. Sir Pinocchio won 11 times as a sophomore, including a victory in the MGM Yonkers Trot and sports a win in one of the two legs of the series he competed in. A son of Met's Hall, Sir Pinocchio made multiple moves against Private Access and was only beaten four lengths at the finish for trainer Ed Hart. Amazing Catch (post four) moves into the Linda Toscano stable with just a third-place finish in three starts this year. The Canadian Trotting Classic winner in 2024 will need to pick up his game to reach the elite level. The Stan Bergstein Graduate field of 10 has three solid trotting mares, with Date Night Hanover (post two), Warrawee Michelle (post eight) and Elista Hanover (post 10) indicating during the preliminaries that they have the capacity to go with the male competition. The Bergstein Graduate final for trotters goes as race seven with the pacing final slated for race five. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Pelling's Sabonis is a horse that Diamond Creek Racing and he recently purchased. Following a lackluster debut under new ownership, Sabonis put a scare into Nijinsky in the June 21 Graduate leg, racing first-over for more than the final half and just missing a neck in a well-rated 1:48 4/5 mile. "He got to running out on the turns," Pelling said. "We corrected that and he was much better last time." A staunch closer while winning 16 of 18 starts and dominating Indiana as a sophomore, Sabonis showed a new wrinkle to his game in the last Graduate leg. "I was a bit nervous when Dexter (Dunn) left the gate with him," said Pelling. The nerves wore away as Sabonis was able to race wide through much of the opening quarter before getting a seat and then marched without cover to put Nijinsky to work for the final half. Sabonis drew post two for the final, inside both Nijinsky (post six) and Captain Albano (post 10), but Pelling predicted his horse would not be likely to see the front-end in the early stages. Given the draw, both Nijinsky and Captain Albano are likely leavers, with Nijinsky, last year's North America Cup champion, showing high speed in leaving in all four of his starts this year. A winner in both of his Graduate legs, Nijinsky, a son of Bettor's Delight, will be driven by Louis Philipe Roy. Captain Albano has looked solid in both of his 4-year-old starts for trainer Noel Daley and is already familiar with post 10, having drawn it for the June 21 final preliminary leg. That said, driver Todd McCarthy allowed Nijinsky to regain the lead on that occasion through a soft second quarter and then was lacking in racing room in the final quarter sprint. Pelling was a little surprised to see Arbitrage Hanover, a top New Jersey Sire Stakes horse in his stable in 2023-24, nominated and racing at this level. Still, the son of Bettor's Wish finished second in the opening leg of the Graduate and deserved a chance to return to the Garden State for the remaining legs. "He's going to need to carry a bit more weight if he's going to compete at this level," Pelling said, hoping that Arbitrage Hanover (post five) could get a piece of the pie with an easy trip. Graduate leg winner Captain Luke (post seven) could be a sleeper in with a chance with top pilot Jason Bartlett in the bike. Captain Luke has shown sub-26 final quarter speed in his most recent starts and has the tactical speed to work out a favorable journey. The Meadowlands has a special 7:00 p.m. (EDT) first post time for Saturday's program with 10 races programmed, followed by fireworks.