Woodbine Mohawk Park: Aetos Kronos makes Canadian history in Maple Leaf Trot elim

The 9-year-old Bold Eagle stallion Aetos Kronos S kept the gears turning while gutting through a parked first-half and stopped the clock with plenty of steam to set a track and Canadian record of 1:49 4/5 in winning his $50,000 Maple Leaf Trot elimination on Friday night (Aug. 22). That was the first sub-1:50 mile ever trotted in Canada.

Off the 4-5 favorite, driver Dexter Dunn floated forward with Aetos Kronos S and landed in a wide spot with no seats at the pylons approaching a 27 second first quarter. Dunn then ventured forward after tempo-setter Hillexotic and crossed to the front just before clocking a 55 second half. Despite traveling the extra ground early, Aetos Kronos S motored through the turn to three-quarters in 1:22 4/5 with Hillexotic as the only close pursuer spinning for home.

Hillexotic angled outside in the lane for a late challenge and galvanized Aetos Kronos S in a sprint to the finish. Aetos Kronos S snugly staved off Hillexotic to register a length win. Gaines Hanover, Southwind Coors and the mare Call Me Goo took the remaining spots into the final.

The 1:49 4/5 clocking eclipsed the previous track and Canadian all-age trotting mark of 1:50 2/5 set by Alrajah One IT in 2023 and matched earlier this year by Emoticon Legacy in winning the Goodtimes and by the gelding Fashion Frenzie in an overnight event in June.

"When he went [1:]50 on Hambo Day he did it pretty easy, but for him to do it himself like that is really impressive," Dunn said after the race. "He's a 9-year-old now so he's pretty relaxed out there in the mile. As soon as you ask him to do it, he'll do it for you though. We took our time going around the first turn and once he got the front he felt terrific.

"He's a real racehorse; he wants to fight other horses off," Dunn also said. "We weren't really overextending him tonight, but we had to make sure we fought Jody [Jamieson and Hillexotic] off. He felt to me like he wasn't going to go past him."

Marcus Melander trains Aetos Kronos S for owners Jeff and Michael Snyder. The European import collected his 25th victory from 71 starts and has now amassed C$1,631,409 in earnings. He paid $3.70 to win.

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Lexus Kody dealt a 16-1 stunner against divisional head honcho Periculum to take the second Maple Leaf Trot elimination in a 1:51 mile.

Driver Yannick Gingras settled with Lexus Kody into fourth while Logan Park built momentum from the outermost post in the octet to grab the lead into a 27 2/5 first quarter. Logan Park cruised up the backside to a 56 second half, where Gingras decided to pull and march first-up towards the top, with 1-5 chalk Periculum following the move second-over. Lexus Kody loomed to equal terms with Logan Park wavering to three-quarters in 1:24 before spurting past the weary pace-setter and seizing the lead. Periculum tipped to the center of the track to muster his usual rally, but Lexus Kody remained resolute to the challenge through the stretch. Lexus Kody withstood Periculum's persistent charge to win by a half-length, while Up Your Deo finished third, another three lengths back, and Private Access overtook Chapercraz for fourth.

"I had the confidence in my horse. He's got big lungs and felt really good turning for home; it was just a matter of keeping him on his business," remarked Gingras. "But he felt so good tonight. He was nice and relaxed in the post parade. I couldn't be happier with him."

Ron Burke trains Lexus Kody, a 7-year-old gelding by Archangel, for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC., Weaver Bruscemi LLC. and Phil Collura. The gelding won his 31st race from 83 starts and has now earned C$925,218 in his career. He paid $34.20 to win.

Woodbine Mohawk Park conducted the draw for the Maple Leaf Trot final following the last of the two eliminations. The elimination winners earned priority and a protected draw between posts 2 through 6. Below is the field for the Maple Leaf Trot final, which goes to post next Saturday (Aug. 29):

Maple Leaf Trot Final

PP-Name-Driver-Trainer

1-Private Access-Louis Roy-Luc Blais
2-Call Me Goo-Ake Svanstedt-Ake Svanstedt
3-Aetos Kronos S-Dexter Dunn-Marcus Melander
4-Periculum-Scott Zeron-Marcus Melander
5-Lexus Kody-Yannick Gingras-Ron Burke
6-Southwind Coors-Yannick Gingras-Ron Burke
7-Gaines Hanover-Bob McClure-Justin Turcotte
8-Chapercraz-James MacDonald-Ron Burke
9-Hillexotic-Jody Jamieson-Todd Luther
10-Up Your Deo-Ake Svanstedt-Ake Svanstedt

--press release (Woodbine Mohawk Park)--