With New Jersey on track as the next jurisdiction to resume racing during the novel coronavirus pandemic, many horsemen flooded the entry box at the Meadowlands to prompt a 26-qualifier card on Saturday (May 30). Among the hundreds of horses entered were several Grand Circuit prospects from last year along with a star-lined contingent from the Marcus Melander barn.

To accommodate social distancing measures necessary with the gradual reopening of facilities in North America, the Meadowlands instituted several new rules regarding entry to the facility ranging from temperature checks to general paperwork.

“Meadowlands did a great job and I was super happy when we left the place—everything was super,” Melander said. “A lot of credit to the Meadowlands. We had like 12 in total and we only had trotters, so we had [races] 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 so after that we were done. We had our horses in the paddock, some of the trainers had [horses] up in the ship-in barn and so on. But I was very pleased with how everything went. It was very smooth… I can’t complain about anything.”

First on the day for Melander came Hypnotic Am, winner of the Jim Doherty Memorial last year and New York Sires Stakes Championship. She remained undefeated until racing in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park, where she finished second in her elimination and then third in the final as the 8-5 favourite. In her first mile back on track, she sat in the middle of the pack before kicking wide in the late stages of the race and trotting to a 1:54 victory with a :28 final quarter.

“It was a good qualifier for her,” Melander said. “Brian [Sears] took her back and she got a good trip behind horses. Then he just pulled her [out] in the last bit there and she finished strong, so she had a really good qualifier. I was very happy with how she looked. She was quiet, not as aggressive as she was late in the year last year—she got a little pumped up towards the Breeders Crown; got a little grabby. But now she was back to being very in-hand for Brian so it was good.”

Hall Of Am S, a stablemate of Hypnotic Am, also competed in that qualifier. The mile served as only her ninth recorded line in her career since she did not debut as a two-year-old until early September. Since then she competed in the Kindergarten Classic and the Goldsmith Maid, where she finished behind Senorita Rita—a filly who made under $500,000 from just eight starts.

“Even [though] she only had five races last year, she was not so far behind the best ones at the end of the year,” Melander said. “She had a really good winter and I think she’ll have a really good season. Not many have talked about her of course because [there’re] so many good fillies out there, but she’s a filly that could really surprise a lot of people because she’s a really nice horse.”

In the qualifier following, Melander steered Fifty Cent Piece to a wire-to-wire 1:56.3 mile from post 10. The filly, who topped the 2018 Harrisburg Selected Yearling Sale when purchased for $500,000, made just her seventh on-track appearance with the qualifier.

“She was a late horse from the beginning,” Melander said. “She got really sick after the sale and she had OCDs taken out. She just got far behind...she wasn’t an early horse. We trained her all year and then she was ready to qualify. She made those three starts with what was very good for her. We just taught her a little bit; she went to the lead sometime in some race there. They were three very good education races for her last year and she had a really good winter too, so I was excited to see how she was going to be today, and she didn’t disappoint.

“She left out of there from the 10 hole; I really think she’ll have a good season, too,” Melandar also said. “Of course I’d like to have a couple starts with her earlier but amid [the coronavirus pandemic] it didn’t happen, so she’s a little behind schedule now. But I was very pleased with how she qualified.”

Melander’s three-year-old brigade came onto the track a few qualifiers later led by Capricornus, who finished fourth in the Peter Haughton Memorial and second in the William Wellwood Memorial last year. He sat the pocket to EL Ideal in a 1:55.2 mile, fronting stablemates Rome Pays Off (finishing sixth) and Maesteraemon (finishing seventh).

“I was happy with my three-year-old colts, like Capricornus showed last year he was a very nice horse,” Melander said. “Tim [Tetrick] said he was very pleased with him, and it was a little hard to catch [EL Ideal] in the stretch because it was a little bit windy [and] there were good fractions since it was their only qualifier. Capricornus was good, I had two other ones in that race: Maesteraemon, Rome Pays Off...they were just sitting far back and I was happy with what I saw. Overall my three-year-old colts did what they were supposed to do and they looked good.”

Grand Swan, who dominated the Indiana Sires Stakes at both two and three, made her debut for Melander in the following qualifier. Coming into Melander’s barn just about a month and a half ago, she trotted a 1:55 mile with a :28.3 final quarter while Manchego strolled to a 1:53 win by six-and-three-quarter lengths.

“She has a great gait and a great attitude and is perfect to drive,” Melander said. “I’m very confident. If we can start to race her in the four-year-old races [then] we’ll see what happens, but she feels like a really good horse and I think she’s going to show it. Like today was a good test, we got to know her a little bit more. It was a good mile. I’m very excited to see how [she turns out]...you don’t make $500,000 with nothing. I’m excited to race her. She’s going to need another qualifier just to tighten up a bit.”

Finally, Gimpanzee completed Melander’s first returning class. The trotting champion with just under $2 million earned strolled to a 1:52.3 victory with a :28 final quarter, hitting the finish eight-and-a-half lengths better than Reign Of Honor in second.

“He had a great winter,” Melander said. “He’s been looking super training down all winter, building a lot of muscles and filled out so good. I really think he’ll have a great season this year again. I’m more happy this time this year than I was last year—not that I was unhappy with him last year at this point—but it just feels like that he’s stepped up even more. He really filled out nicely and it just feels like he’s stepping up even more. I was very happy with him...he was happy too to be on the track; it felt like he’s been waiting for that.”

Gimpanzee enters the typically difficult transition into a four-year-old campaign somewhat with a head start. After strong performances with a third-place effort in the Hambletonian, a track-record performance in the Yonkers Trot and a win against his division in the Breeders Crown, Gimpanzee competed against aged competition in the TVG Free For All Final in late November, finishing fourth by less than two lengths behind Six Pack, Manchego and Guardian Angel As respectively.

“He showed last year that he’s right there,” Melander said. “I don’t think he’ll have any problem...it’s good that we can start with the four-year-old races like the Graduate now in two weeks and then the leg after that. Then of course we have hopefully the final and the [Hambletonian] Maturity and so on, but I don’t see any problem for him to race against the aged horses later in the year after that. Because it just feels like he doesn’t have any problem with that.

“I think he’s the best four-year-old,” Melander said, “but then it's an open group. I think that the fillies are better...Manchego and Atlanta, it feels like they’re a little bit better than the aged colts at this point at least from what I know. They’re very good horses but I know Gimpanzee can step up and race very good against those horses. That’s what I think at least; that’s how it feels with how he’s coming back. Then he’s staked to everything else in the fall.”

Melander originally left the possibility open for Gimpanzee to compete in the Elitlopp -- the largest race contested in his native Sweden -- if the opportunity allowed. Of course, given the shut down of racing in recent months Melander, like many other horsemen, have had to adjust their racing calendars accordingly with the shifting racing and stakes schedules. The trainer still has hopes that Gimpanzee can reach and get the opportunity to compete on an international stage this year.

“If the International [Trot] will go as planned, then that probably will be one of his biggest goals this year, to be in that race,” Melander said. “They will need a really good horse to beat him on a half-mile track...I think he showed that last year in the Yonkers Trot that even horses from Europe will have problems racing against him. And a mile and a quarter is no problem for him. He’s a horse who doesn’t care -- he can go from behind, to the lead. To him he has no problem to race wherever he goes. He likes to chase horses, he can go to the lead. Never any problem for him.”