When Reign Of Honor marched down the road at The Meadowlands on March 27 to win an overnight race it was the first start of 2021 for trainer Marcus Melander and ironically his first horse to race in exactly four months when that same horse used similar tactics to prove victorious. While four months might seem like forever for some stables to be inactive on the track, for the Melander Stable, it is all part of the plan. "Honestly it was pretty nice," said Melander, who ramped things up on March 30 by qualifying five more horses. "We do so much racing, normally from May to November but last year from June to November because of the virus, that it is nice to have a couple of months for the horses and people to take vacation and refresh their batteries for the new season. "It is so relaxing to go to the barn in the afternoon and go over horses. Not racing during the winter gives me more time to go over the horses and prepare them for the season. You have to do so much preparation during the winter so when we start racing in May or June the horses can race all year in the big races." While Melander had a strong year in 2020, seeing his barn finish sixth in earnings ($3,823,805), everything went downhill after Gimpanzee won his third straight Breeders Crown on October 31 at Harrah's Hoosier Park. Five of the nine horses he entered in November last year had to be scratched, including three from stakes races. "The stable caught a bad bug and we were just lucky it didn't hit until after the Breeders Crown," said Melander. "I think every horse in the barn was sick at some point during November. It was disappointing because Hypnotic Am was scratched from the Matron and another 2-year-old was scratched from the Kindergarten Classic, but we had been very lucky without sickness for the previous couple of years." Unlike in 2019 and 2020 when Melander's stable was the talk of the town due to the presence of eventual Trotters of the Year Greenshoe and Gimpanzee, respectively, the 28-year-old could be flying a bit under the radar this year. That said, his barn remains loaded with trotting talent and it would be foolish to discount them. Reign Of Honor was a very impressive 1:52 1/5 winner at The Meadowlands and is staked pretty heavily according to Melander. While his first goal is the A.J. Cutler Memorial on May 15 at The Meadowlands, the $440K-winning 5-year-old will prepare every two weeks or so in overnights as he seeks to hit his peak form. The highest profile horse in the barn for 2021 is 4-year-old trotting mare Hypnotic Am. The winner of almost $1.2 million will be back at it versus Hambletonian Oaks winner Sorella and Hambletonian winner Ramona Hill in 2021 as well as facing the previous two Dan Patch winners for top older trotting mares in Atlanta and Manchego. "Even if she's never won every big race she's been in, she's never thrown in a bad race either. The first time she ever missed the board was in the Breeders Crown final when she was fourth. It is hard to think that she isn't as good as [Manchego, Atalnta, Ramona Hill and Sorella]. They are great horses but I think she can go with them. It will be exciting to see how she does," said Melander, who said now that the seasons are changing Hypnotic Am is starting to feel good. "She doesn't like the cold. Now with the heat she has lost her winter hair and looks great. We'll take her to The Meadowlands on Saturday (April 3) to train and qualify in mid-April." Hypnotic Am has the typical stakes schedule for her division. The Courant Inc.-owned daughter of Chapter Seven is looking at the Graduate series and Hambletonian Maturity versus 4-year-olds early before taking on older mares as the year goes on. Her only assignment versus the boys, should she feel up to the task, is in the Maple Leaf Trot at Woodbine Mohawk Park during the fall. Certainly all eyes in the Standardbred world are on the Hambletonian trail each year and Melander has a number of them where that trotting classic is the ultimate goal. Perhaps at the top of a list that includes In Range, Iznogoud Am, Damien, Sonofamistery and others, is Dancinginthedark M, who displayed raw speed winning in 1:52 2/5 as a 2-year-old but lacked maturity. "We worked a lot with him behind horses this winter and I like the way he's developed. He feels like he's really matured," said Melander. "He's filled out nicely and I am really excited about him coming back." As a son of Readly Express, Dancinginthedark M is only eligible to the Kentucky Sire Stakes program, which doesn't get underway until late in the summer. That means a later start to his season with an emphasis on stakes and whatever overnights work into the plan. He has the Goodtimes at Woodbine Mohawk Park on June 19 and perhaps showing the trainer's true faith in his horse's mental growth over the winter, is eligible to the MGM Yonkers Trot with eliminations and final the following two weeks at the New York half-mile track. In Range is the most accomplished of Melander's colts and his path will be much different. The Pennsylvania Sire Stakes runner-up from 2020 will get started for a May return to compete in that series. The son of Bar Hopping seems to be coming back nicely, but the trainer admits that it is hard to tell. "He's filled out and grown a lot. He feels great, but he's very lazy so you really don't know until you get the race bike on him," said Melander about In Range, who can't race at The Meadowlands outside of the Hambletonian because of the rule which bans sons and daughters of sires which did not race as a 4-year-olds. As one of only two yearlings to ever sell for at least $1 million at auction, Damien will once again be in the spotlight in 2021. The son of Muscle Hill-Danae didn't start last year as a 2-year-old and Melander is hoping that his patience will pay off in his sophomore season. "He trained at The Meadowlands last Saturday (March 27) and he'll go back one more time to go a bit more of a mile next time before qualifying," said Melander. "We were very happy with how he felt and behaved in his first time there. At this point he feels like a good horse, but he was immature as a 2-year-old and didn't race, so it will take him more time. We have to start him from the bottom, Non-winners-of-1, and work his way up. The others have more experience than him, which is why he is qualifying a bit earlier." The aforementioned Iznogoud Am was well-thought-of enough to make the trip to Woodbine Mohawk Park in 2020 to race in the inaugural Mohawk Million. After finishing a well-beaten ninth, Melander put the son of Muscle Hill away and now projects him as perhaps a sleeper to look out for on the colt side. "Iznogoud started out really good but he got a little sore on us. He raced in the million-dollar race in Canada but wasn't sound that day and we turned him out. He's come back really good," said Melander Two more to watch are Sonofamistery and Gimme Shelter. The former was always fast according to Melander but just not mentally there yet while the latter, a filly, is new to the barn. Gimme Shelter won a couple of PA Sire Stakes legs last year under the care of Mike Palone and Melander is happy with what he has seen so far. Melander also has a barn full of 2-year-olds learning the ropes and like most trainers in early April, he's mostly satisfied. "Yeah, I'm happy, but a lot of people are happy right now when they are going about 2:20. We'll see where they are in a couple of months. I think we have some stars in the group." Living up to his success in recent years will be no easy feat for Melander. Afterall, he was Trainer of the Year in 2019 and conditioned a Trotter of the Year in 2020. Yet the award winner is confident in his methods and feeling hopeful that more good things are on the horizon. "Those other years we really had the power. This year we have some really nice horses and I'm excited about them," concluded Melander.