Red Mile: Melander trotting colts dominant in Bluegrass events

Trainer Marcus Melander was first and second in one $96,100 Bluegrass division for 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters on Sunday at The Red Mile, with Greenshoe defeating stablemate Gimpanzee in a 1:49 4/5 mile, then came back to win the other Bluegrass contest with Green Manalishi.

Greenshoe (Brian Sears) got away cleanly in third in the opening split as Chin Chin Hall (Peter Wrenn) went to the front and clicked off a 26 3/5 opening quarter and a 55 2/5 half. Sears angled Greenshoe to the outside shortly after the half went up on the board, and Greenshoe accelerated quickly to take the lead on the final bend. He opened up a gap on the field to the 1:23 three-quarters, then finished up in 26 4/5 while in-hand to become harness racing's newest sub-1:50 trotter. Gimpanzee (David Miller) out-kicked Chin Chin Hall for second.

"He's been here for three weeks now, almost four. He's very relaxed on this track. I'm always a little bit nervous when he goes out on the track to see how he behaves, but he's behaving every start, so I cannot complain," remarked Melander. "He's got more respect for both me and Brian training him and driving him in the race. He had huge potential last year, but he got too anxious behind the gate, made a lot of stupid breaks, and cost a lot of money last year. He's making up for it this year.

"I think he can go 48. It needs to be a faster half maybe a little bit and a little faster three-quarters. He's so fast that he could do it for sure. Next week if there's enough entries it'll be two races in the same day, so we're not sure if we're going to get that, but hopefully."

A Father Patrick colt, Greenshoe is owned by Courant Inc., Hans Backe, Lars Granqvist, and Morten Langli. Greenshoe is now an 11-time winner in his career, and he also became a millionaire with today's victory putting his bankroll at $1,016,273. He was the 1-9 favorite and paid $2.10 to win.

Marseille (Ake Svanstedt) showed his customary speed in the other section, hitting the quarter in 27 1/5 and the half in 55 4/5. Green Manalishi (Tim Tetrick) went on the move first-over from fourth on the way to the half, and he was able to get a narrow lead on the outside at the 1:23 three-quarters. Green Manalishi and Marseille continued to battle into the lane, with Pilot Discretion (Andrew McCarthy) also joining the fight from second-over, but Green Manalishi held safe, winning by a length in 1:50 4/5. Pilot Discretion got up for second, with Marseille back in third.

"Greenshoe is probably a little better at the end of the day, but this horse keeps showing up, and he's putting a lot of dollars in that right column," said Tetrick. "My horse likes that. He likes sitting on the outside there and grinding it out. He's never going to win by four or five. He makes it close, but he will fight them. I looked over and I saw Andrew had a little run, but he wasn't getting to me real quick. As long as you don't gun-rush him, he'll fight you pretty good. If it's those head and neck races like that, he really likes those."

Green Manalishi, a Swedish-bred colt by Muscle Hill, is owned by Courant Inc. He made his 11th appearance in the winner's circle, and he pushed his earnings to $1,149,395. The 4-5 favorite, Green Manalishi returned $3.60 to win.