Meadowlands: Melander quartet under the radar in 2020 Hambletonian

One year removed from sending out four horses in the Hambletonian eliminations, including the three favorites - Greenshoe, Gimpanzee and Green Manalishi S - trainer Marcus Melander is back with a more under-the-radar quartet that could very well make up for the let-down on the first Saturday in August of 2019.

Two $50,000 Hambletonian eliminations are set for Saturday (8/1) at The Meadowlands, with the top five in each advancing to the $1,000,000 final on August 8. For the first time since 2012, the eliminations are being contested the week prior to the final rather than asking horses to race multiple heats on the same day.

Melander's barn will send out two horses in each elimination, in what is widely considered the most up-for-grabs Hambletonian in years. In the sixth race first elimination, the 28-year-old trainer has Maesteraemon and Hollywood Story starting from posts five and six, respectively, in the eight-horse field.

While less accomplished in 2020, Maesteraemon is perhaps the most interesting horse being sent to the post by Melander. After a strong pair of qualifiers, the son of Andover Hall has yet to be put into play by driver Brian Sears in three pari-mutuel races while coming home with good trot in each. Most recently, starting from the difficult post 10, the colt was stuck at the back of the pack at the head of the lane and was loaded with late trot while catching some traffic in deep stretch.

"He's a good horse. He showed that in the qualifiers earlier this year," said Melander. "Brian (Sears) has been building him up for the Hambletonian. It will be very interesting to see how he does this weekend."

Owned by S R F Stable, Maesteraemon was able to win in 1:52 4/5 as a 2-year-old, very much on par with his contemporaries like Amigo Volo, Big Oil and the filly Ramona Hill, all whom he faces on Saturday.

Courant Inc. owns the second charge from the Melander stable in the opening leg. Hollywood Story was perfect in four starts prior to starting stakes action a few weeks back. Despite being unable to win, he raced well, finishing fourth in the Reynolds (7/11) and second behind the highly-touted Ready For Moni in the Stanley Dancer on July 18.

"Hollywood Story raced well in the Dancer but he is still a little green and needs a good trip to surprise," said Melander.

The battle for favoritism in the opening elimination figures to come down to Back Of The Neck and Amigo Volo. The former has won two straight races impressively at The Meadowlands, albeit in just 1:52, a time that should be far eclipsed in both eliminations and the final. Amigo Volo finished three lengths behind Back Of The Neck in the Dancer but displayed the raw speed and talent that won him the Breeders Crown last year when blowing out a 1:52 winning mile at The Downs at Pocono in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action on July 26.

Clearly the deeper elimination of the two, the sixth race also includes Empire Breeders Classic winner and Dancer runner-up Third Shift and a talented son of Archangel that seems to be coming into his own in Beads, who was a huge second in the Reynolds in 1:51 2/5 and a somewhat blocked third in the Dancer most recently. A recent equipment addition of a hood seems to have helped the somewhat timid colt.

"I think he was a little scared of seeing things, not necessarily dirt in his face, but drivers in front of him. He got hesitant going into situations and I think that it has helped him quite a bit," said trainer Per Engblom.

In the second elimination (race 8), driver Yannick Gingras likely ended any discussion on where favoritism will fall when he chose the Nancy Takter-trained Ready For Moni (5/2, post eight) over the Ron Burke-conditioned filly Sister Sledge (3/1, post two). The former has just one start in 2020, but it was a professional 1:51 4/5 win in the Dancer with an explosive 27 1/5 final quarter. Sister Sledge is three-for-four this year and has never finished off the board in 16 career starts. She also owns the co-fastest winning mile in the field, 1:51 2/5, tied with Jula Trix Treasure.

For Melander, his hopes lie with Capricornus (post one) and Rome Pays Off (post four). Although Rome Pays Off looks better on paper, Melander sees Capricornus, who is still seeking his first win in four starts this year, as a sleeper.

"I was really happy with the draw," said Melander of the JJ Racing Stable-owned colt. "Now Timmy (Tetrick, driver) doesn’t have to push him out of the gate too much. He really responded good to some of the changes we made on Saturday in the Dancer. He can be a big outsider that no one thinks about."

Melander admits that Rome Pays Off was his top 3-year-old when the year started, but something went amiss. "He trained down best of all of my 3-year-olds and I was very excited to start with him, but when we started to qualify he just had no power. We took some blood and it showed some trouble with his liver, so we started to treat him for that. It took a while before we got it to normal," said Melander.

With the issues in the rearview mirror, Rome Pays Off has posted back-to-back victories to start his 2020 campaign, including a strong 1:52 3/5 first-over win in the Tompkins Geers last weekend. Mattias Melander will drive the S R F Stable-owned son of Muscle Hill in the elimination.

The Hambletonian eliminations are part of a power-packed 13-race card at The Meadowlands on Saturday which features Meadowlands pace winner Tall Dark Stranger, a match-up between 2019 Hambletonian winner Forbidden Trade and Hambletonian Oaks winner When Dovescry, and 2019 Dan Patch winner Bettor’s Wish. Also on the program is a mini-preview of the $600,000 Hambletonian Oaks, which drew 12 horses and did not require eliminations. Eight of the dozen fillies compete in the third race.

Post time at The Meadowlands is 7:15 PM, with the first Hambletonian elimination likely to go off shortly after the nine o’clock hour.

HAMBLETONIAN – 1st ELIMINATION

1. Back Of The Neck (Scott Zeron), 2-1

2. Third Shift (Ake Svanstedt), 8-1

3. Amigo Volo (Dexter Dunn), 7-2

4. Big Oil (Andy Miller), 10-1

5. Maesteraemon (Brian Sears), 12-1

6. Hollywood Story (Tim Tetrick), 10-1

7. Ramona Hill (Andy McCarthy), 5-1

8. Beads (Jimmy Takter), 9-2

HAMBLETONIAN – 2nd ELIMINATION

1. Capricornus (Tim Tetrick), 15-1

2. Sister Sledge (Brian Sears), 3-1

3. Jula Trix Treasure (Ake Svanstedt), 6-1

4. Rome Pays Off (Mattias Melander), 9-2

5. Threefiftytwo (Scott Zeron), 8-1

6. Chestnut Hill (David Miller), 6-1

7. Sky Castles (Corey Callahan), 20-1

8. Ready For Moni (Yannick Gingras), 5-2

9. Moon Bridge (Andy Miller), 20-1