Red Mile: Magic Punk, Neighver Punt rule in Bluegrass Male Trots

Ake Svanstedt trainee Magic Punk and Marcus Melander pupil Neighver Punt both returned from defeat in the $575,000 Grade 1 Kentucky Futurity last week to win in their respective $114,000 divisions of the Grade 3 Bluegrass Stakes for 3-year-old trotting males on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 10) at The Red Mile.

Magic Punk plugged first-over through the last turn and slid to the front late for a 1:52 victory in the first Bluegrass division, sponsored by the Captain Corey Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farms.

It Could Be Worse (driven by Tim Tetrick) broke stride behind the gate, leaving Requiem (Andy McCarthy) to hustle out of post five for an uncontested lead to a tepid 28 second first quarter while Magic Punk (Todd McCarthy) planted into fifth. The field strolled single file up the backside to a 55 4/5 half but broke rank once Magic Punk edged outside for an attack to the final turn. Magic Punk marched up the rim to match strides with Requiem by three-quarters in 1:24 1/5 before disposing of that rival in the lane and coasting to the finish a winner by 1 1/4 lengths. Seven Grand (Ake Svanstedt) rallied from a pocket trip for second with Lindy Living (Dexter Dunn) kicking from second-over for third and Lucchese (Joe Bongiorno) shook off the pylons through traffic to snag fourth.

"He had a good day today," said Sarah Svanstedt of Team Svanstedt. "He has been a little bit tricky this season. When you have him on the happy days, he's doing what he's doing today. So, I'm very happy."

Rebounding from a break in stride when leaving the gate in the Kentucky Futurity, Magic Punk collected his fourth win from 13 starts this season and his eighth victory from 21 starts in his career, accruing $521,454 for owner Magic Punk Inc. The colt by Wishing Stone, out of the Explosive Matter mare I D Entity NO, paid $4.96 to win.

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Neighver Punt (Dexter Dunn) mounted a similar uncovered push up the rim with Neighver Punt to take the other Bluegrass division for sophomore trotting colts - sponsored by Wiesman Farms - in a 1:52 4/5 mile.

Dunn settled Neighver Punt into third while Untouchable As (Tony Hall) crossed over from the outermost draw in the septet to lead the field by a 28 1/5 first quarter. Neighver Punt began his challenge just after a 56 1/5 half and loomed outside through the turn before spurting by Untouchable As after three-quarters in 1:24 4/5. Neighver Punt powered through the stretch while keeping a late bid from 98-1 shot Alpha Blue Chip (Scott Zeron) at bay to win by a half-length. Untouchable As held third over pocket-sitter Maga Hill (Yannick Gingras) in fourth.

"He actually raced really well last week," Marcus Melander said about Neighver Punt's fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Futurity. "He's been racing good all year - maybe just slightly under the best, best ones, but he's always right there and he raced great today again."

Courant Inc. owns Neighver Punt, a now four-time winner from 13 starts this season and a five-time winner from 22 starts in his career with $327,235 banked. The colt by Bar Hopping, out of the Donato Hanover mare Twice Is Right, returned $4.94 to win.

During the closing day card, The Red Mile honored the 2026 season's leading driver Dexter Dunn and leading trainer Marcus Melander. Dunn led all drivers in wins with 88 victories and nearly $3 million in purses while Andy McCarthy finished second in the standings with 53 wins and Tim Tetrick tied for third alongside Todd McCarthy with 47 wins.

"It feels great. I absolutely love racing here," said Dexter Dunn, who also currently leads all drivers nationally in purse earnings this season. "It's a bittersweet day, this day, because it’s our last day for the year. But I had great support down here and drove some great horses. I've been very lucky."

Melander topped the training ranks with 46 victories and over $2.1 million in purses. Carter Pinske finished second among trainers with 32 victories with Brett Pelling third at 28 wins.

"This season's been great, obviously," said Marcus Melander, currently second nationally in purse earnings behind Ron Burke. "We invested in our farm here three years ago and we race a lot here. It's a great program and perfect track, so I'm very happy about [this title]. Hopefully we can continue here these last couple of weeks."

--press release (Red Mile)--