It was thought following his brilliant tally in the Breeders Crown that the 2-year-old trotting colt Maryland could eclipse the earnings record for a horse in his division by racing in and capturing the Kindergarten Series final on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. Trainer Marcus Melander was true to his word, entering the son of Chapter Seven as planned, but any hopes of Maryland overtaking T C I's earnings mark won't be on the line. The $173,300 Kindergarten purse was more than $50,000 under the estimate on the Meadowlands condition sheet, and a victory by Maryland will not be enough to secure the top spot. Nevertheless, Maryland's presence on any stage has its own rewards as the colt has been brilliant through the second half of the season, and Melander has a clear eye on a future Meadowlands race on the first Saturday next August. "I think 2-year-old wise he's the best 2-year-old I've ever trained," said Melander. "Of course, he's got to come back and do it at 3, but he's a great horse and I don't think he'll have a problem doing it." While there were a few growing pains along the way in his early races, Maryland has been flawless lately, winning four consecutive major stakes races in advance of his Kindergarten finale. "He's a very smart horse. He's been travelling a lot, and it doesn't seem to both him at all," said Melander of Maryland. The travels of Maryland first led him to capture the prestigious William Wellwood Memorial on August 24 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. In that race he overcame post nine showing sharp early speed and then rallied in the stretch to win quite comfortably. From Ontario, Maryland followed the money to the Peter Haughton Memorial at Harrah's Hoosier Park on September 13 and again overcame an outside draw to capture the elite freshman event in style, capping off a 1:54 1/5 mile with a 27 1/5 last quarter while cruising on his own to the wire. Only eight days later back at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Maryland would give Melander and company their first Mohawk Million triumph, with Maryland racing from off-the-pace for driver Dexter Dunn and romping home in a then career-best 1:52 3/5 clocking. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Given entry into the Breeders Crown final with the Haughton score, Melander trained him back and kept him fresh with a qualifying mile two weeks prior, and that set Maryland up nicely for a hard-earned yet decisive score in the $700,000 Crown final at the Meadowlands on October 25. While Maryland had to fight off a bitter challenge to his right flank, he was tested to his left in deep stretch by runner-up Maximus Mearas S, and held that one at bay bravely in a career-best 1:51 4/5 mile. "He's fresh and sound and should be ready to race on Saturday," Melander said with confidence of Maryland. Maryland drew post two in Saturday's eighth race at the Meadowlands, a program that features three other Kindergarten Series finals. "The Kindergarten will be his last race [this year]," said Melander, dashing hopes for now that T C I's record will be in danger. With $1,145,378 earned this year, Maryland has almost doubled what the other nine in the field have taken in during their frosh season combined. That said, the Kindergarten will be a true test with some late bloomers in the crowd that could step up to Maryland's level. Monserrate (post three) had won just once in his first nine tries for trainer Andrew Harris, including a fifth-place finish in the Breeders Crown elimination. The light bulb obviously went on, and the Chapter Seven colt has responded with consecutive Kindergarten leg wins over the Meadowlands strip in the last two weeks. His 1:54 2/5 career-best mile was finished with a 27 1/5 final quarter on November 2. Cheers Hanover (post four) also enters the final with a two-race winning streak, both Kindergarten legs for trainer Ron Burke. The Bar Hopping-sired colt has rebounded this fall following a mishap in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final at The Meadows on September 5 where he miscued. Trainer Ake Svanstedt always has a sleeper at this time of the year and what version of Gap Kronos S (post seven) shows up remains to be seen. The Face Time Bourbon-sired colt drew rave reviews following his consecutive Grand Circuit triumphs at The Red Mile earlier this fall but was somewhat flat in a third-place finish on October 25 in a Meadowlands Kindergarten leg. The richest of the Kindergarten finals will be the $243,400 event for juvenile trotting fillies carded as race six. The 10-filly field has attracted a host of stakes winners, with the Nancy Takter-trained Champagne Problems (post eight) the likely favorite on the strength of six wins this year and $378K banked. Trainer Andrew Harris has another one of his six-figure yearling purchases in this grouping in Voguish, a daughter of Gimpanzee with five wins this year, including the Kentuckiana at Harrah's Hoosier Park and a pair of Kindergarten legs most recently. Voguish and Maryland hail from a red-hot maternal line that on Monday was responsible for a $1 million yearling at the Harrisburg auction. Jolene Jolene is the dam of Voguish, herself a $535,000 yearling purchase in 2023. Jolene Jolene's daughter Crucial is the dam of Maryland, as well as Cambridge Hanover, the yearling purchased on Monday by Harris and his ownership group. The 14-race Meadowlands card on Saturday kicks off at 6:20 p.m. and also features a Kindergarten final for male pacers where Papis Pistol (post six) is the presumptive favorite and pacing fillies led by Breeders Crown third-place finisher Rodeo Drive Deo.