Meadowlands: Melander looking to cap off big season with Grade 1 wins

It has been an outstanding year for trainer Marcus Melander. Heading into Saturday's (November 14) final two major juvenile trotting events, the Hambletonian-winning conditioner looks to add to a record earnings total with five 2-year-olds in the $383,830 Valley Victory and $386,830 Goldsmith Maid, half of the Final Four for freshmen at the Meadowlands. Melander, who sent out Apex to capture his first Hambletonian in August, looks to close out the campaign with Command Center, the Gimpanzee-sired half-brother to Apex, in the Valley Victory and Birr Castle, the Breeders Crown champion, among three in the Goldsmith Maid.

The Valley Victory (race eight) will come first for the freshmen on Saturday's 14-race stakes-filled program that includes the Governor's Cup and Three Diamonds for 2-year-old male and female pacers, respectively, as well as the FanDuel finals in all four divisions for older horses. With just six entered in the Valley Victory, Melander has two high-profile earners seeking the top prize, and the $500,000 yearling purchase Command Center sets up in a good spot from post one with the sport's leading driver Dexter Dunn in the bike.

"We tried some new shoes on him for the qualifier, and it didn't work out," said Melander when asked about the November 7 qualifier where Command Center broke stride approaching the half. "He'll go back to his old shoes."

Command Center has finished on the board five times in his six career starts, all over Lexington's Red Mile.

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"He has raced well in every start except that Kentucky Championship final when he made a break," said Melander. "He got sick after that race, and I was hoping to get him back for the Breeders Crown, but we didn't have enough time."

Before ever racing, Melander had a very high opinion of Command Center. Given that he's trained most of the foals by the champion Mission Brief, Melander has an inside track to their development and overall ability.

"He's still my best 2-year-old," said Melander with confidence.

In Command Center's last pari-mutuel race at The Red Mile he captured a division of the Bluegrass on October 1 in a career-best 1:54 mile, but he has shown sub-1:52 speed in preliminary legs of the Kentucky Championship Series.

Stablemate Gustav Vasa, a son of internationally-acclaimed Face Time Bourbon, hopes to end his year on a high note but has already been a success for Melander, who co-owns with top European conditioner Daniel Reden.

"Daniel bought him, I believe after he had sold on Ongait," said Melander. "He didn't go for a lot of money, and he said that the Face Time Bourbons usually sell for a lot more."

Gustav Vasa has looked like a bargain buy for a pair of trainers that have been dominant on both sides of the Atlantic. Recently second in the Kindergarten Series final after cutting the pace, Gustav Vasa starts from post four on Saturday.

"He was a little tough to handle behind the gate," said Melander, explaining why he was driving the horse through many of his earlier starts. "A lot of times we had more than one horse in the race with him and Dexter (Dunn) was driving the other."

Brett Beckwith has been able to manage him kindly through the last two starts and gets the assignment going for big money.

Bentley Blue Chip (post three), a son of Walner and half-brother to the $1.5 million-earning Plunge Blue Chip, hopes to make a late-season sweep of a pair of rich Meadowlands stakes events for trainer Ake Svanstedt. A winner in three of his nine races this year, Bentley Blue Chip was an upset winner in the Kindergarten final, trotting to a 1:52 2/5 career-best clocking in the process.

The $386,830 Goldsmith Maid attracted a field of 11, and Melander sends out three, with Birr Castle, a potential divisional champion following her Breeders Crown victory, meeting up with the unbeaten Kountry Plunge for the first time.

"Birr Castle hasn't raced in three weeks, but I trained her the other morning and she feels good," said Melander with some confidence that the daughter of Captain Corey is set for a good mile on Saturday.

Birr Castle came from off-the-pace to capture the Crown, but Melander feels confident she can race on- or off-the-pace. He'll leave that decision to Scott Zeron, who guides Birr Castle from post two.

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Two Day Hangover, a Breeders Crown elimination winner for Melander, drew post six in the Goldsmith Maid (race nine). "Where she was sitting in the Breeders Crown coming into the stretch, I thought she was a winner," said Melander of the trip.

Two Day Hangover didn't fire in the stretch and finished seventh. "I expect her to be better, and she's trained well for this," Melander said.

Athena's Girl (post 11) starts from the second tier. "It's better than drawing post 10," said Melander, who hopes the Walner-sired filly will regain the form she showed earlier this year when she captured the Grade 1 Peaceful Way at Woodbine Mohawk Park in August. "She got sick before the Breeders Crown. She's had just one start since then and I think she'll be better."

Kountry Plunge (post four) has been the dominant trotter in New York this year, winning all seven starts, including the $300,000 New York Sire Stakes championship at Yonkers on September 12. She went on to a career-best 1:53 2/5 mile in capturing the $250,000 Big Apple final at Vernon Downs on October 9 and hasn't raced since. That lack of action has never been a problem for the Svanstedt stable in the past, and the likelihood is that she'll be ready for battle on Saturday. Kountry Plunge faces the deepest field she's been up against in the Goldsmith Maid.

Nevis Peak, a determined second to Birr Castle in the Breeders Crown, drew post seven for the Goldsmith Maid for trainer Ron Burke and driver Yannick Gingras. The daughter of Hambletonian winner Ramona Hill has two wins this year, and they have both come over the Meadowlands mile track.

Climatic Hanover (post one) is another freshman filly with enormous talent that could be a factor in the Goldsmith Maid. The Lucas Wallin-trained daughter of Walner scored in the Kentuckiana Management Stakes at Harrah's Hoosier Park in a 1:52 2/5 mile in September and then had to deal with outside draws in both Breeders Crown elimination and final. The $725,000 half-sister to champion Maryland will be handled by Todd McCarthy.

Post time for the Saturday Meadowlands card, featuring eight stakes events in total, is 6:20 P.M. (EST).