Tioga: Melander with multiple favorites on NY Day of Champions

For the last few years of the New York Sire Stakes program, trainer Marcus Melander has been a dominant force on the trotting side. Melander has been a regular in the winner's circle on New York Night of Champions, with notable stars of the past like Gimpanzee and Hypnotic AM a pair of two-time winners.

On Saturday afternoon, as Tioga Downs hosts the "Day of Champions" for the top pacers and trotters in the state, Melander once again finds himself with current star power and perhaps some budding stars. Heading his three-ply contingent at Tioga is last year's juvenile trotting filly champion Joviality S. The winner in eight of her 10 starts this season drew post eight in a field of nine going for $200,000 in the New York Sire Stakes final for sophomore filly trotters, race six on the Tioga Downs program.

"Originally I wasn't going to race her after the Hambletonian for a while and just point towards the final New York Sire Stakes at Tioga [September 3]," said Melander. "But she felt so good following the Hambletonian that we decided to race her in the Delmonica Hanover."

The decision was a smart one as Joviality S bounced back from a pair of close defeats with a resounding 1:51 3/5 blowout mile in the Delmonica Hanover at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on August 20.

"I was glad she got to race off a helmet," said Melander of Joviality S's winning New York Sire Stakes effort at Tioga Downs. "There was just so much speed in the race I think that others wanted to get the front and then follow her."

That didn't prove to be the case with a contentious early pace in the September 3 NYSS. Brian Sears followed the live cover of Valentina Blu and then drove by in the stretch for a 1:51 3/5 victory.

"Valentina Blu is a very good horse," Melander said, giving credit to the Tony Alagna-trained filly that has really come to hand over the last month with a pair of Sire Stakes victories, as well as a huge second-place finish in her last start. Valentina Blu unfortunately landed post nine for the final.

"I always have confidence in her," Melander said of Joviality S, who has won 17 of her 22 lifetime starts and could be a line for a major Grand Circuit run following the sire stakes final. "I won't race her until Lexington," Melander said, while keeping his options open about whether to put the filly up against colts once at The Red Mile. "We'll race her the first week and then see where we go after that."

The 'after that' part is referring to the Kentucky Futurity Open division. Joviality S has already captured the first jewel in the Triple Crown by winning this year's Yonkers Trot.

While Joviality S will be looking for her second straight New York Sire Stakes final, Melander is hoping that Crown, another by Chapter Seven, will get the day rolling while continuing his winning form in the first $200,000 NYSS final of the day (race one).

Crown, a 2-year-old colt that cost $250,000 at last year's Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, has been perfect in four starts this year, and his trainer believes there's plenty of room for improvement.

"It was our plan from the start to point him towards the New York Sire Stakes," Melander said. "We train over a half-mile track, and my horses develop the technique to get around them on the New York circuit."

That early conditioning has paid off handsomely in the past, and Crown appears to be the next in line for the powerful Melander stable.

"He's done everything we've asked so far," Melander said of Crown, who drew post six and is the likely favorite for driver Brian Sears. "Racing in the Sire Stakes, they don't get to go the kind of speed you see at the Meadowlands and The Red Mile, but I think he can go with those horses."

Crown will not be alone in the 2-year-old colt and gelding final, with multi-leg winner The Gruffalo (post five) and the Ake Svanstedt-trained tandem of Cecil Hanover (post two) and Kierkegaard K (post four) inside his path in the field of nine.

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Kayleigh S, the full sister to Joviality S, got her career off to a flying start with three straight wins on the Sire Stakes circuit, all over half-mile tracks. "I think it was helpful she didn't have to go many fast miles and there were a lot of breakers in those races," said Melander, reflecting on the early success. "In her last few races, she's had to get acclimated to the faster times, and I think she's getting there."

Kayleigh S drew post three in the $200,000 Sire Stakes final for juvenile trotting fillies, race two on the program.

All told there are eight $200,000 New York Sire Stakes finals on tap on Saturday afternoon at Tioga Downs, with Hambletonian champion Cool Papa Bell (post four) hoping to regain winning form while taking on last year's Sire Stakes champion Molotov Cocktail (post seven) and seven others in the fifth race 3-year-old colt trot.

Messenger Stakes winner Pleaseletmeknow is another Grand Circuit star that drew poorly for the Sire Stakes final but will likely be the favorite for trainer Travis Alexander. Pleaseletmeknow landed post eight with Matt Kakaley driving in the $200,000 final for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers (race seven). Pleaseletmeknow faces J D (post six), last year's New York Sire Stakes final winner as a 2-year-old.

The Tioga Downs Day Of Champions program kicks off at 1:00 p.m.