Since starting his stable in 2014, Marcus Melander’s stock has taken off, aided by many talented trotters including his recently retired champion Gimpanzee alongside other horses waiting in the wings to return to the racetrack in 2021.
Gimpanzee, a now five-year-old son of Chapter Seven-Steamy Windows, wrapped his racing career with a 1:51.3 victory in the $500,000 Breeders Crown final before transitioning into his life as a stud, standing in Kentucky as part of moves by breeders to revitalize the burgeoning breeding program in the state.
“He was sharp all from the start, and all through the season,” Melander told
Trot Insider. “He was just an amazing racehorse. He was so easy on himself, always been a very sound horse of course. Nathalie [Norlander] had been taking great care of him over these last four years. The horse himself, he’s got great conformation; he stands good and all that. That’s very important, too. Then of course our training and everything, it worked out for him. To keep him sound all these years that he’s been racing because he really raced against tough horses every year.”