Harrah's Hoosier: Gimpanzee betters Atlanta in Caesars Trotting Classic

Gimpanzee takes his track with him whereever he goes, and that was demonstrated again on Friday night at Harrah's Hoosier Park in the $150,000 Caesars Trotting Classic for free-for-allers as Hoosier became the 11th different oval the 4-year-old son of Chapter Seven has won at. He was victorious in 1:51 2/5 after an exciting battle through the lane with Atlanta.

There was action right from the get-go in this race. JL Cruze (Matt Kakaley) pushed out hard and was able to cross over in front of Custom Cantab (Peter Wrenn) early on the first turn, but Guardian Angel AS (Tim Tetrick) pressed on two-wide from post nine and cleared after a 26 3/5 opening quarter. Gimpanzee (Brian Sears) then immediately attacked and went by Guardian Angel AS, followed by Atlanta (David Miller) vaulting past Gimpanzee just beyond the 55 second half-mile clocking.

After Atlanta took command, that left Don't Let'em (Dexter Dunn) first-over, but Miller wanted separation on the group, and he got it as Atlanta quickly accelerated and left the field in her wake going to the 1:22 4/5 three-quarters. Although Gimpanzee couldn't go with her at that point, Gimpanzee and Sears didn't panic, steadily chipping into Atlanta's margin around the remainder of the final bend and into the stretch drive.

In the lane Sears edged Gimpanzee to the outside two-wide, and Gimpanzee and Atlanta locked horns inside the last eighth of the mile. Atlanta dug in gamely when asked by Miller, but Gimpanzee had just a little bit more to give and got around the mare to win by half a length. Lindy The Great (Andy Miller), who was left second-over behind the stalled Don't Let'em on the final turn, finished well to get third, and Crystal Fashion (Jordan Stratton), who got shuffled back from fifth to tenth in the middle-half, closed with a 27 3/5 final panel to get fourth. Guardian Angel AS wound up fifth.

After starting out his 2020 campaign five-for-five, Gimpanzee had been second to Guardian Angel AS from first-over in the Crawford Farms Trot at Tioga and then was third to Atlanta in the Maple Leaf Trot at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Trainer Marcus Melander knew that he wasn't at his best in the Maple Leaf Trot, though, and qualified him last Saturday at the Meadowlands to make sure everything was in order before shipping him west.

"Well, of course, everyone that's seen him all year saw that he wasn't 100 percent up in Canada, and even if he still raced okay, he wasn't as sharp as he's been all year," said Melander. "He scoped a little sick after that, and I wanted to qualify him last week to see that he was back to normal, and he was. That's when I decided to bring him here.

"He always gets the job done. He knows where the wire is, and he raced down Atlanta like he did today. She's an amazing filly, but today we beat her, and I was very happy with that."

Gimpanzee is owned by Courant Inc. and S R F Stable. He now has a record of 23-2-3 from 31 appearances, and he has earned $2,438,551. He was the 4-5 favorite and returned $3.60 to win.

The Caesars Trotting Classic gave this field a chance to race at Harrah's Hoosier Park prior to the Breeders Crown, and Gimpanzee will be back for that event after paying The Red Mile a visit first.

"It fit good in his schedule. Now he has the race in Lexington in two weeks and two weeks after that he's got the Breeders Crown," remarked Melander. "The track was very good here today, and I was very happy with that. I'm thrilled to be back here in a month or so."

Gimpanzee's full sister Iteration prevailed in the Kentuckiana Stallion Management for 2-year-old trotting fillies earlier on the card, and Melander is high on her chances going forward, as well.

"She's a little bit more immature than when he was 2, but she's a super-nice filly, and when she gets it all figured out, she'll be a great horse," he said.