Harness: Melander provides updates on his top Breeders Crown starters
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It was a mixed bag of results at the Breeders Crown for trainer Marcus Melander this year and perhaps not what he was expecting. The 33-year-old sent out 13 horses and picked up a pair of wins and seconds, but both winners were upsets and the six horses that were under 4-1 all failed to win.
“It wasn’t the one I expected,” said Melander after watching his Spencer Hanover (4-1) win the Breeders Crown 2-year-old colt trot at Woodbine Mohawk Park as his 1-2 favorite Apex finished back in fourth.
Melander confirmed that Spencer Hanover will head to the Valley Victory at The Meadowlands on November 15 along with Nix Nacken (5th in Crown). Apex, the leading money winner for 2-year-old trotters in North America at $871,798, is done for 2025.
Second on the earnings list for 2-year-old trotters at $678,159 is a filly trained by Melander named Setyoursightshigh. She was a runner-up in the Crown as the 9-5 second choice and will not race again this year. That said, Crown favorite Nezuko Kamado S, who finished third in the race, is heading to the Goldsmith Maid at The Meadowlands on the same night as Spencer Hanover.
Switching to the sophomores, Melander finished first, second and fifth in the Breeders Crown 3-year-old male trot. Meshuggah, the 62-1 upset winner, who will race in the Matron and then likely prepare for his 4-year-old campaign, will be joined by runner-up Super Chapter in that race at Dover Downs.
“We got an invite to the FanDuel but I don’t think we’ll accept it,” said the trainer on Meshuggah.
Maryland, the 2024 Dan Patch Award winner, is done racing for 2025 and his future remains up in the air.
“We’ve had him test-jumped a few times since the Breeders Crown and he’ll have a full semen test in a month or so,” said Melander, who hinted that New York was his likely landing spot should the colt retire.
Both Melander and co-owner Anders Ström added that they didn’t mind the idea of racing as a 4-year-old, with Ström adding, “I enjoyed it with Gimpanzee.”
Should Maryland return in 2026, he’ll be joined by Periculum, who was second in the Breeders Crown Open Trot behind French Wine. Periculum will race next in the FanDuel on the November 15th Meadowlands card.