‘WENDY’ AND ‘GUSTAV’ WIN KINDERGARTEN SPLITS AT BIG M

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- July 24, 2026 -- Wendy J Stings and Gustav Vasa were two of the 2-year-olds that walked down victory lane Friday night at The Meadowlands when eight $25,000 second leg divisions of the Kindergarten Series were contested for competitors of each sex and gait.

In a split for filly pacers (race two), Wendy J Stings picked up her first career win in three tries, but needed the judges to intervene to do it.

The daughter of Perfect Sting-Paula’s Power, who was sent to the gate as the 5-2 second choice in the field of six, sat fourth to the half before mounting a superb rally first-over. The Chris Ryder trainee collared leader Perfect Body, the 2-5 favorite, at the sixteenth pole, but she bore out nearing the wire, bothering Wendy J Stings, who was elevated to first by the judges in the official order of finish. Perfect Body was placed second with Gift Of Faith third. The time for the mile was 1:52.2.

“She is really good. She made a pretty good move up to the turn,” said winning driver Todd McCarthy. “There was a little contact just before the wire. We kind of got pushed aside. She’s got a really good attitude and did a really good job. I was very pleased with the performance.”

Wendy J Stings paid $7.60 to win.

Gustav Vasa pulled off an upset in a division for colt and gelding trotters in the eighth race, taking advantage of an early break by 3-5 favorite Captain Kenny J to score at 16-1 to nab his first win in two attempts.

With Dexter Dunn sidelined by a neck injury, trainer Marcus Melander was in the bike behind the colt by Face Time Bourbon-Ms Emily Mariette, and despite racing three-wide to the quarter, settled in on the lead after the favorite made a break and led at every call from there to record a safe 1:56 win by a half-length over New Hope. Jimdougie Armitage did well to get third after leaving from post 10 in the 10-horse field.

“He got a little excited in the first turn (in his debut when he went off stride), so when Dexter couldn’t be here tonight, I figured I’d go with him myself,” said Melander. “There were some soft fractions (:58 to the half, 1:28.1 to three-quarters) but he’s a good horse and he’s going to go down to Kentucky for the sire stakes and we’ll see how it goes.”

As the fourth choice, Gustav Vasa returned $35.80 to his backers.

AND THE WINNERS ARE: The other six Kindergarten winners on the card were:

·         Race 3: colt and gelding pace – Seine (a colt by Sweet Lou-Lock Bridge), Joe Bongiorno was the driver, Bongiorno is the trainer, time for the mile was 1:52.2 (first career win), the win payout was $3.60 for the 4-5 favorite

·         Race 5: filly trot – Orinoco (Captain Corey-Bonnie Lou), Yannick Gingras, Ake Svanstedt, 1:54.4 (first career win), $3.20 as the 3-5 favorite

·         Race 10: filly pace – JK Simcha (Bulldog Hanover-Joyride Hanover), Scott Zeron, Nancy Takter, 1:53.2 (career debut), $4.60 as the 6-5 favorite

·         Race 12: filly trot – HL Kapara (Chapter Seven-Sel’s Choice), Jason Bartlett, Harry Landy, 1:57.3 (career debut), $2.20 as the 1-9 favorite

·         Race 13: colt and gelding pace – Wishawave (a colt by Bettor’s Wish-Making Waves), Zeron, Linda Toscano, 1:52.3 (two wins in two lifetime starts), $2.20 as the 1-9 favorite

·         Race 14: colt and gelding trot – Southern Hanover (a colt by Captain Corey-Southwind Percy), Tim Tetrick, Toscano, 1:57.4 (first career win), $6.80 as the 2-1 second choice

A LITTLE MORE: Zeron led the driver colony with three wins on the night. … Svanstedt scored three times to top the trainers. … Jim Sidor ($1,192.10) and Russ Slader ($750) were the top two finishers in the seventh 2026 monthly edition of the track’s $1,000 Handicapping Contest. The duo have now earned spots in the $10,000 invitation-only contest finale on Dec. 12. … All-source handle on the 15-race program totaled $2,213,452. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:35 p.m.