Meadowlands: Hambletonian path could go through Melander/Wallin family trees

In March we profiled brothers-in-law Marcus Melander and Lucas Wallin, projecting that the pair might have the two leading candidates for Saturday's 100th edition of the Hambletonian. At the time, the one-two finishers in last year's Breeders Crown final - Maryland and Maximus Mearas S - were just beginning the training for their sophomore seasons and appeared destined to meet in the sport's signature race in the summer.

Projections and assurances don't always align and there were many hurdles to get over, specifically last week's Hambletonian eliminations and Tuesday's (July 29) post position draw. The positives for both coming out of those hurdles came to fruition when three of Melander's four finalists landed inside spots in the 10-horse field and Wallin's Maximus Mearas S drew post five.

What stands out from March's forecast is that both top horses we looked at before the season got underway arrive in the Hambletonian winless to this point in their sophomore seasons. Maryland, last year's Dan Patch Award winner, was expected to be winning races as he prepared for the Hambletonian, but that hasn't been the case. A rare break in stride in a qualifier perhaps made his connections a bit more cautious, as he was conservatively driven along the journey to Saturday's contest.

"I know he hasn't won a race yet, but he's been getting stronger every race," said Melander of the Chapter Seven-sired colt. "Even though he lost last week he kept fighting to the finish and trotted home in 26 seconds."

Melander stressed the fighting part in Maryland's demeanor, and though there have been close losses, the trainer is hoping for better luck in Saturday's Hambletonian, a race that by no stretch will be simple to navigate.

"There's a lot of solid horses in the field," said Melander. "Maximus [Mearas S] is solid. Emoticon Legacy, though nobody thought he was that great last week, has Luc Blais as his trainer, and he always has them ready. Ake's colt [elimination winner Nordic Catcher S] went a big mile."

Emoticon Legacy has an unblemished record in four starts this year but as Melander mentioned, won his elimination by just a nose and in the slowest time (1:51 3/5) of the three elimination winners. Despite the narrow margin, that victory landed him post three.

"It was good. He won the race and maybe he should be better next week because we just qualified him [between the Zweig and Hambletonian elim]. I asked [driver] Louis [Roy] if he was tired, and he said 'no, he was not tired.' He just loafed [on the lead] and when they came, he went again. I was happy when he said that," said Blais about the elimination effort.

Melander also has a lot more power in this Hambletonian than he's had in the previous ones. Three of his four landed prime real estate behind the starting car, with Meshuggah (post one), the undefeated sophomore and morning-line favorite Super Chapter (post two), and Maryland (post four) dominating the inside part of the gate. Blank, a colt from the first crop of Gimpanzee, landed post eight.

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"Super Chapter is also a great horse and he's done everything we asked of him. He's been great on all-sized tracks," said Melander, clearly cognizant that his other Chapter Seven-sired finalists have all the credentials to provide the 33-year-old trainer his first Hambletonian trophy.

Maryland had to deal with the fastest and likely the deepest of the three Hambletonian eliminations held on July 26, and driver Dexter Dunn had to navigate an outside draw as well, with favored Go Dog Go to his inside. Maryland got away fourth as Todd McCarthy eagerly opened a hole with Go Dog Go for Maryland to drop in to. This scenario allowed Ake Svanstedt, with Nordic Catcher S, to get control of the race from the start and go on a speed mission that saw him control the pace without objection through much of the first three-quarters.

Maryland would come first over and tow Go Dog Go into the race, but Dunn did not come to attack the leader, attempting to gain slowly instead. "It's an elimination and you want to reach the final," said Melander of the drive. "If you go too fast on the turn and make it break, that's it."

Maryland would save his sprinting for the straight and made up a ton of ground late - missing by a nose at the wire to Nordic Catcher S, who will start from post six in the final - in his fastest and likely best performance as a sophomore.

According to Svanstedt, a bridle change on Nordic Catch S was perhaps contributory to his colt's performance: "I think it helped him. Last year, he was so hot and was pulling too much, so we switched to an open bridle. Then he was relaxed, but maybe too relaxed, so I thought maybe we could use a pulldown blind and get an extra gear. And it was an extra gear," said the trainer.

Wallin's side of the picture is in stark contrast to Melander's as his colt had a hiccup as well along the path that needed to be resolved.

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"My colt is getting stronger and stronger each week," Wallin said following Tuesday's draw. "Coming into the season I was thinking that he would have had three starts prior to the Hambletonian; the Tompkins-Geers, Stanley Dancer and Hambletonian eliminations. He's only missed one."

Maximus Mearas S has raced from off-the-pace in both starts for driver Scott Zeron and exploded home in his elimination, flashing 26 second speed in the final quarter to gain second while not threatening Melander's Super Chapter on the wire.

A four-time winner in his six starts as a freshman, Maximus Mearas S will face his toughest task to date in the Hambletonian, and his trainer believes he's more than up to the challenge.

"I was very happy with the draw. Either four or five would have been great and he drew five," said Wallin, who gets the benefit of multiple Hambletonian-winning driver Scott Zeron in the sulky.

While Wallin loves his horse and likes his chances, he also gets to witness Melander's horses in training and on the racetrack, and has his own ideas of which of the four may rise up on Saturday.

"If you put a gun to my head, I would have to say Maryland is Marcus' best one," said Wallin.

Wallin and Melander were in similar positions a few years back heading into the 2022 edition of the Hambletonian, with Wallin sending out the favorite Rebuff and Melander the second choice in Joviality S. Cool Papa Bell would pass Joviality S, who finished second, with Rebuff, the pace-setter, fading in the stretch.

This year Melander appears to have a deeper group than in the past, and Wallin won't have the same pressure of sending out a favorite, while perhaps emboldened with a driver that's been tested under these conditions in the past.

Melander obviously likes the top two horses but also has hope for Meshuggah with international driving star Bjorn Goop filling the sulky since regular pilot Zeron opted to stick with Wallin's horse.

"Scottie (Zeron) has done a great job figuring him out," said Melander. "We've had trouble with his steering and are going to have to put gaiting poles on. We're bringing over Bjorn because he's driven many horses in Europe with gaiting poles and knows how to handle them."

Meshuggah means crazy or foolish in Yiddish, but the horse was actually named for the Swedish metal band of the same moniker. He is by Greenshoe, the runner-up as one of three Hambletonian finalists for Melander in 2019. Greenshoe, Gimpanzee and Green Manalishi S have all gone on to successful stallion careers.

With half of the Hambletonian field representing the Melander family in some way, we asked both Marcus and Wallin if either of their young children had a particular horse they were backing.

"My daughter loves the horses and loves going to the track," said Melander of his soon to be 4-year-old daughter Hailey. "As far as her favorite horse, it's Vic Zelenskyy."

Lucas' son Mason is 2 1/2 years old and has yet to form an opinion on horses. "He's been in the sulky with me," said Wallin. "And he's been around the stable and pet horses, but right now he's much more interested in tractors and cars."

Both families will be watching Saturday's Hambletonian in person and don't be surprised if the 100th edition of the race finds Hailey and Mason in the picture somehow.