Meadowlands: Melander looks to bring a handful to Hambletonian final

There were some surprises when 20 horses were entered on Tuesday morning for the 97th edition of the Hambletonian. That two fillies joined 18 colts and geldings may have been unexpected, but that trainer Marcus Melander had five in the field certainly was a surprise.

"We were looking at four," said Melander on Wednesday. Letsdoit S was the last one and we thought he deserved a shot." Both Letsdoit S and Theresnolimit S are sons of Nuncio owned by Marcus's uncle Stefan Melander, who himself captured the sport's biggest prize back in 2001 with Scarlet Knight.

"Letsdoit S got wiped out in the Dancer," Melander said. "In the Geers he had a troubled trip but held his ground in the stretch. Post nine isn't going to help."

Letsdoit S drew outside in the second $100,000 Hambletonian elimination carded as race 11 on the Saturday Meadowlands program. In that race he'll face two stablemates that comprise Melander's best chances at his first Hambletonian victory. Joviality S, the MGM Yonkers Trot winner, will be looking for the second jewel in the Triple Crown and first must overcome post 10 just to reach the $1 million final on August 6.

"I'm happy with the way she's coming into this race," said Melander of Joviality S. "I think the 14 days after the Yonkers Trot did her well. I was concerned with racing consecutive weeks on the half-mile track how she would come out of those races, but she performed well in the Miller, and everything looks good except for the post position."

Regardless of the outside draw, Melander has supreme confidence that Joviality S, a daughter of Chapter Seven, has the talent to overcome male competition, as well as the outside draw.

On the inside of the field is Temporal Hanover (post three), a colt that Melander feels has the best chance of the four male stablemates in the race. "He's been very good in each start and was good last time finishing second behind Rebuff," said Melander. Unfortunately, driver Brian Sears is committed to Joviality S and thus Melander had a vacancy when Temporal Hanover drew into the same division.

"We had planned to have Orjan Kihlstrom drive him next Saturday [August 6] if he made the final," said Melander. "It's really tough to find a driver here, and now with Scottie Z [Zeron] going down it was more difficult. Orjan is probably going to get fined for missing drives in Sweden on Saturday, but he's coming."

Kihlstrom is an elite talent and figures to have Temporal Hanover, a winner in three of his five starts this year, in position to post a mild upset in this talented field.

Joining Melander's filly in the race is Jiggy Jog S, a daughter of Walner that has won three of five this year and elected to race male competition this Saturday and perhaps in the final.

"No, I wasn't surprised to see her in against the boys," said Melander of Jiggy Jog S. "The owner has been talking about it since last November."

Jiggy Jog S drew post five and joins the Hambletonian field following a pair of Grand Circuit victories over fillies at Yonkers and then Vernon Downs.

Melander sends out a pair in the ninth race and first Hambletonian elimination, with Periculum (post seven) showing better credentials on paper, and Theresnolimit S (post nine) one that earned his way into the contest on the strength of his most recent effort, a 1:51 score in non-winners of 2 on July 15 at the Meadowlands.

"When he trotted that fast, I felt he deserved a chance to be in the field," said Melander of Theresnolimit S's recent effort. "Of course, he's probably going to have to go in (1:)49 and change here, but we'll see."

As for Periculum, the $340,000 yearling purchased in Lexington in the fall of 2020 has been ultra-consistent through his 17-race career.

"He's very fast for a quarter-mile," Melander said, summing up Periculum's racing qualities. "If he can work out a trip he can be right there.

"Of all the colts, Rebuff is the one that concerns me the most," Melander said in deference to last year's Breeders Crown champion that has returned this year with a pair of stakes wins, including a 1:49 4/5 career-best clocking taken in the Stanley Dancer on July 16.

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The first Hambletonian elimination should be quite contentious given the draws, as Goodtimes champion Fast As The Wind (post three) and the talented Branded By Lindy (post four) join the promising Justice (post five) in a solid division that will make it difficult for many to hit the top five and return for next week's final.

It's quite clear from the number of entrants in the field, as well as those putting up the $15,000 entry fees, that winning the Hambletonian is most definitely a world championship event. That Melander has three Swedish-breds in the race says a great deal about what the Hambletonian means quite a distance from its East Rutherford, New Jersey, home.

The Hambletonian eliminations are part of a strong 14-race card at the Meadowlands Saturday that gets underway at 6:20 P.M. and also includes a pair of eight-horse eliminations for the Hambletonian Oaks.

Hambletonian Elimination #1 – Race 9

POST-HORSE-DRIVER-MORNING LINE

1-Cool Papa Bell-Brian Sears-8-1
2-Looks Like Moni-David Miller-12-1
3-Fast As The Wind-Dexter Dunn-8-1
4-Branded By Lindy-Yannick Gingras-5-1
5-Justice-Ake Svanstedt-10-1
6-Molotov Cocktail-Todd McCarthy-10-1
7-Periculum-Mattias Melander-4-1
8-Rebuff-Tim Tetrick-2-1
9-Theresnolimit S-Orjan Khilstrom-15-1
10-Pretender-Andrew McCarthy-12-1

Hambletonian Elimination #2 – Race 11

POST-HORSE-DRIVER-MORNING LINE

1-Testing Testing-Todd McCarthy-10-1
2-Chulo-Jason Bartlett-15-1
3-Temporal Hanover-Orjan Khilstrom-7-2
4-Slay-Joe Bongiorno-9-2
5-Jiggy Jog S-Dexter Dunn-8-1
6-King Of The North-Mark Macdonald-5-1
7-B A Superhero-Tim Tetrick-8-1
8-Keg Stand-David Miller-10-1
9-Letsdoit S-Andy Miller-15-1
10-Joviality S-Brian Sears-3-1