Harness: Giving Gimpanzee some much-deserved credit

Sometimes the understudy has to wait until the star leaves the stage to get true recognition. Such is the case of Gimpanzee, the now-retired son of Chapter Seven who accomplished more on the track than most horses historically yet for the two of the last three years has been overshadowed by many, even one from his own stable.

"He's always been perfect to be around," said Marcus Melander, who broke and trained Gimpanzee throughout his brilliant racing career that included an undefeated season in 2018 as a juvenile and ended in late October of this year with a victory in the Breeders Crown, his third in as many tries.

"He trotted in (1):55 the first time we took him to the track," said Melander. Interestingly enough Gimpanzee, as impressive he was on that June 2 morning of 2018 at The Meadowlands finishing second a head behind the soon-to-be Peter Haughton Memorial winner Don't Let Em, Gimpanzee's stablemate Greenshoe garnered much more attention with his 1:55 victory in a separate baby race.

The two would go in separate directions in 2018 with Gimpanzee off to New York for Sire Stakes action. "When we sent him to Monticello for his first race, I wasn't worried at all about him getting around the turns,” said Melander, highlighting perhaps the best attribute of the young horse in his first season. Gimpanzee would win that start and eight others during his freshman campaign getting over all-sized tracks with ease. He got one chance to race against open company and that came in the Breeders Crown at Pocono, where he won his elimination from post eight and then dominated the final by open lengths.

In as much as going undefeated as a 2-year-old and winning the Breeders Crown would do for most horses the reality of the pre-2019 campaign was the high anticipation of just how Greenshoe, his stablemate, would return. While everyone recognized what Gimpanzee had accomplished in a workman-like way the extreme speed Greenshoe exhibited on just a few occasions made him the one to beat as sophomores. "Greenshoe had an extreme turn of speed that Gimpanzee couldn't match,” said Melander. "Gimpanzee would put in a good performance every time he raced." A look at the brilliant three seasons Gimpanzee spent on the racetrack is something to behold. With 25 wins in 34 career starts and over $2.7 million in earnings the would-be Diamond Creek Farms (Kentucky) stallion did plenty to establish his credentials. Missing from those numbers is the fact that there was not a single break in stride on any of his charted lines while racing against the best and on every sized track.

"He just had a great gait and could go around the turns as fast as he could the straights. You saw it in the Yonkers Trot," said Melander, pointing to the Triple Crown race where Gimpanzee left Hambletonian winner Forbidden Trade a distant second in a 1:53 3/5 blowout.

As a 4-year-old Gimpanzee proved his dominance over a solid group of aged horses and sealed the division title with a powerful performance in the Breeders Crown at Hoosier Park. While there were some bumps in the road including setbacks in the Maple Leaf Trot and Allerage Farms Melander was never disappointed in the effort. "If you look at the Allerage he was only beaten by a few lengths after cutting a 1:50 mile," said Melander of a rare off-the-board finish.

While it may be a long time before Melander can duplicate the powerful class of trotters he had debuting as juveniles in 2018 he is poised to turn into the New Year with a solid foundation. Heading his sophomores will be In Range, a $411K winner as a juvenile that was first or second in 9 of his 10 starts in 2020. Dancinginthedark M is a colt that showed high speed as a freshman but made mistakes. Melander is hoping he will mature to be a better 3-year-old this year.

Then there is Damien, the $1 million purchase from the 2019 Lexington Selected Sale. "He's probably the strongest horse I've ever trained," said Melander of the Muscle Hill-sired colt that made just one start in a qualifier this year. "In that qualifier Brian (Sears) thought that he made a break because they were just going too fast for him. I took him back and we trained him down and wanted to give him a start or two in the fall. Then he got sick so we're going to bring him back and probably start him a little earlier."

Melander believes that Ineffable, a Cantab Hall-sired filly that finished third in the Jim Doherty Memorial early in the 2020 campaign may be one that improves from 2 to her 3-year-old season. "She's a very big filly that could develop," said Melander.