Nordic Catcher S wins 100th Hambletonian

Nordic Catcher S sustained a long first-over grind to put away Go Dog Go in mid-stretch and evade Super Chapter to win the 100th edition of the $1 million Grade 1 Hambletonian, held Saturday (Aug. 2) at the Meadowlands, in a stakes record 1:50.

Nordic Catcher S and trainer/driver Åke Svanstedt landed in third early as Go Dog Go (driven by Todd McCarthy) vaulted to the lead from post 10 and controlled early splits of :26.1 and :54.2. Svanstedt gave Nordic Catcher S his cue to vacate the pegs at race’s midpoint, and the Six Pack-That Woman Hanover colt ground forward into a protracted duel with Go Dog Go past three-quarters in 1:22.4 while Super Chapter (Yannick Gingras) tracked from the pocket and 3-2 favorite Maryland (Dexter Dunn) was towed second-over.

With an eighth of a mile to go, Nordic Catcher S collared Go Dog Go, and Super Chapter found room to hook three-wide out of the pocket in front of Maryland, who gapped cover off the corner for home. Nordic Catcher S accelerated to the finish line to defeat runner-up Super Chapter by 1-1/4 lengths; Maryland narrowly took third over the ground-saving Gap Kronos S (Tim Tetrick).

It was the third Hambletonian win for Svanstedt, who co-owns Nordic Catcher S with Jeff Gural’s Little E LLC. Now a five-time winner with $813,285 in earnings, Nordic Catcher S paid $11.20 to win as the 9-2 third choice.

A complete story will follow.