Meladys Monet is getting up in age but remains young at heart. The 12-year-old male trotter has three wins and a second in four starts this season and will look for career victory No. 71 when he visits The Meadowlands for Saturday’s $22,500 conditioned trot.

“He’s doing really good,” trainer Hermann Heitmann said. “Nothing has changed with him (over the years). He is still acting like a young horse, actually. He likes to play around in the paddocks, he enjoys his lunch, he doesn’t look like he wants to slow down yet.

“He just likes to race.”

Meladys Monet is a son of Revenue S out of Keystone Melady. He was bred by Ester Balenzano and her husband Luca, who passed away last year. Ester remains the horse’s owner under the Melady Enterprises banner.

For his career, Meladys Monet has won 70 of 224 races and $1.73 million. He has earned more than $125,000 in each of the past eight years.

Meladys Monet, winning at The Meadowlands in March 2017

He won the 2016 Vincennes Invitational at The Meadowlands and later that season was second to Bee A Magician in the $250,000 Yonkers Invitational. In 2015, he won The Meadows Maturity and had third-place finishes in the Cutler Memorial and Crawford Farms Open Trot.

In recent years, he has remained a consistent performer in top-level trots at various East Coast racetracks, particularly Yonkers. The gelding was sidelined for five months in 2018 because of colic surgery but has earned a paycheque in 49 of 54 starts since his return.

“He’s like the horse of a lifetime,” Heitmann said. “There are not too many around like him.”

On Saturday, Meladys Monet heads to The Meadowlands to race for the first time since December 2019. He will start from post five with driver Scott Zeron and is 9-2 on the morning line. Kenziesky Hanover is the 5-2 favourite.

“I’m sure he will put in a good effort,” Heitmann said.

What makes Meladys Monet successful in fending off rivals as well as Father Time?

“His attitude,” Heitmann said. “He knows when we’re going to the races and he likes the competition. He tries unbelievably hard, always. He never gives up.

“Attitude is everything with him. He just wants to do it. You can’t teach that to any horse, they either have it or they don’t. He wants to do it.”

Racing begins at 6:00 p.m. (EST) at The Meadowlands. The Big M and TrackMaster have teamed to regularly provide free past performances for each race card. Past performances can be found on The Meadowlands' website.

(USTA)