Fast horses have put Marcus Melander’s career on a fast track.
In late December, one year after being named the Rising Star Award winner by the U.S. Harness Writers Association, Melander was recognized as the sport’s Trainer of the Year by the same organization. The 27-year-old native of Sweden is the youngest person to ever receive the honour. The previous youngest was Mark Ford, who at the age of 30 in 2000 shared Trainer of the Year with Jimmy Takter.
Melander’s first full season as a trainer was in 2015. He has seen his stable’s wins and purses increase every season since, reaching 86 victories and $5.36 million in 2019. His earnings last year ranked fourth among all trainers in North America despite having fewer starts (332) than any trainer in the top 17.
“I’m very humbled,” Melander said. “It’s very exciting and a very big honour. It’s not that many years I’ve been a trainer, so it’s all been very fast. I have a lot of people to thank for that; the people that work for me, family, owners.
“We were lucky; we had no sick horses or anything like that. We had a good year all along. We won big races, both two and three-year-olds. The horses raced well all the time. They all performed.”
Melander’s top horse in 2019 was Greenshoe, who received the Dan Patch Award for best three-year-old male trotter. Greenshoe won 10 of 13 races, finished second in all three of his losses, and earned $1.27 million to top all trotters in North America.
Greenshoe, pictured in victory at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
Gimpanzee finished second to Greenshoe in the Dan Patch voting. He won eight of 14 starts and $1.12 million. Melander became only the second trainer ever to have two million-dollar-earning trotters in the same division in the same season, joining Takter, who accomplished the feat in 2014 with Father Patrick and Nuncio.
In addition, three-year-old male trotter Green Manalishi S won six of 13 races and $646,838.
That trio’s wins included the Kentucky Futurity and Zweig Memorial (Greenshoe), Breeders Crown and Yonkers Trot (Gimpanzee) and Canadian Trotting Classic (Green Manalishi S).
Greenshoe was retired to stallion duty at the end of his season. Gimpanzee and Green Manalishi S will return in 2020, with Green Manalishi S expected to race in Europe after spending the winter in training with Melander.
Gimpanzee, pictured winning the 2019 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt Trot at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Gimpanzee, who was the Dan Patch Award winner at age two, has won 17 of 23 career races and $1.72 million. He finished last year with a fourth-place finish against older horses in the TVG Series championship at the Meadowlands Racetrack. He was within one and a half lengths of the top three: Six Pack, Manchego, and Guardian Angel AS.
“I’m very excited he’s coming back,” Melander said. “We didn’t over-race him and I think he will be a very good older horse. In my opinion, he raced great in the TVG. With another year, he will be good. He has everything that a horse needs to be a good older horse. He’s always sound, he’s always happy, he always does his job. He never really had a bad race for us.”
Among last season’s two-year-old trotters, Hypnotic AM won the James Doherty Memorial while Capricornus, Back Of The Neck, Rome Pays Off, Hell Patrol, Expectations, Hellbent For AM S, and Hall of AM S all were Grand Circuit or state-restricted stakes winners. Hypnotic AM was her division’s New York Sire Stakes champion while Rome Pays Off was second in the Breeders Crown and Peter Haughton Memorial and Capricornus was runner-up in the Wellwood Memorial.
Cruzado Dela Noche, a seven-year-old trotting horse in 2019, won the Cutler Memorial for older trotters. He will perform stallion duty in Sweden, Melander said.
Anders Ström’s Courant Inc. owned or co-owned a number of the top horses in Melander’s barn, including Greenshoe, Gimpanzee, Green Manalishi S, and Hypnotic AM. Courant Inc. was named the sport’s Owner of the Year by USHWA.
“We have a really good relationship,” Melander said. “I train a lot of horses for him and I’m very happy for him as well.”
Melander now must put 2019 in the rear view mirror and focus on the road ahead. His stable has 43 two-year-olds and a total of 66 horses for 2020.
“I’m excited to start the new season,” Melander said. “Hopefully we can match those numbers from last year, but it’s going to be tough. But we have a good staff, good owners; we’re just going to keep what we’re doing. It will be an exciting year.”
(USTA)