Trendsetter trending upward into G3 Peter Pan
At 0h02, on May 7, 2026 • By Aqueduct Racetrack
Midway Racing’s graded stakes-winner Trendsetter brings improving form into Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, a nine-furlong route for sophomores, at Belmont at the Big A.
The Peter Pan is the traditional New York prep for the 10-furlong Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets slated for Saturday, June 6 at Saratoga Race Course. The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will waive entry and starting fees to the Belmont Stakes for the first three finishers of the Peter Pan.
Trained by Ben Colebrook, Trendsetter [post 1, Kazushi Kimura] arrives from a 2 1/4-length score in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Lexington on April 11 at Keeneland.
“It was his first time on the dirt going two turns. I think that’s what he’s wanted to do all along,” Colebrook said.
The Modernist gelding ended a five-race losing streak in the Lexington, making the grade at odds of 32-1 with a stalking score under returning rider Kazushi Kimura. Trendsetter saved ground in fourth position as Corona de Oro showed the way through three-quarters in 1:12.12 before Kimura angled Trendsetter out for the stretch run and powered to the lead to score at the first wire finish line under a drive and ridden out to the second wire. Trendsetter stopped the clock in 1:44.51 and registered a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure.
“With the short wire, we wanted to be real aggressive and have a position. It worked out great. I think the wider turns at Aqueduct will help him and he can get rolling,” Colebrook said.
Trendsetter launched his career with a pair of restricted wins sprinting 5 1/2-furlongs at Colonial Downs, graduating in July ahead of a three-quarter length score in the Hickory Tree in August. He completed his juvenile campaign with two off-the-board starts in turf sprint stakes in Kentucky.
Trendsetter added blinkers for his final 2-year-old start when fifth in the Listed Indian Summer at Keeneland and has sported them in each of his four starts this year.
“At the time, he was a bit lazy, and you had to make him do everything. You still do,” Colebrook said of the decision to add blinkers. “He’s a horse that needs an aggressive rider and Kimura really fits him well.”
