Maryland

[Brown jug]

gural seemed genuinely excited and thankful for winning the hambo and why not, who wouldn't be

[hoosierboy]

sick of the 2025 Maryland excuses, he's a nice horse but not a great horse

I agree..  he will knock down $500k but won’t be the horse everyone expected

[Parked]

In my opinion hes been a let down this year based off of last year. With that said hes still a very nice trotting colt just not what was expected of him.  And thats OK he will still grind out more money this year than most people's salary. In fact probably already has.   To be honest my disappointment started back at Vernon earlier this year when he got beat. He just doesn't appear to have made a jump in improvement this year. But again still a very nice little trotter!
[/quote

I saw him race and thought he was raced conservatively.  Then was 2 again and again. Thought he was being primed for Hambo , raced well but not the horse I thought he was.  Now to see if he steps up in Ky…

[seen2much]

Melander's horses perform well in the Hambletonian. They seem to not as sharp in the final. I remember Greenshoe & that crew too....coming up short.

[SDST2009]

Melander's horses perform well in the Hambletonian. They seem to not as sharp in the final. I remember Greenshoe & that crew too....coming up short.

IMO it is becoming harder and harder to have a trotter that is spectacular at both 2 and 3. It seems to me Melander is far better at accomplishing that domination at 2.

[The Answer]

IMO it is becoming harder and harder to have a trotter that is spectacular at both 2 and 3. It seems to me Melander is far better at accomplishing that domination at 2.

Seems people never said that when it came to Karl.

[SDST2009]

Seems people never said that when it came to Karl.

Which part?

[themightythor]

i have to give dexter some blame.i thought maryland was much better on the lead and was much better holdiing onto to a lead then he was trying to close but dex never put him out front this year.he always duck in on the front

[SeattleSlew]

I have owned mostly trotters and just a few pacers, but my overall observation when watching 2 year-olds move to 3 is that many more trotters who were "clueless" as two-year olds "get it" at 3, whereas most pacers have it locked at 2 and move it on to 3; thus accounting for the disparity between trotters and pacers with respect to keeping similar rankings from 2 to 3.  It is not that Maryland isn't as good at 3, but just that some immature trotters got a lot better and caught up to him (and passed him literally and figuratively.)

[SDST2009]

I have owned mostly trotters and just a few pacers, but my overall observation when watching 2 year-olds move to 3 is that many more trotters who were "clueless" as two-year olds "get it" at 3, whereas most pacers have it locked at 2 and move it on to 3; thus accounting for the disparity between trotters and pacers with respect to keeping similar rankings from 2 to 3.  It is not that Maryland isn't as good at 3, but just that some immature trotters got a lot better and caught up to him (and passed him literally and figuratively.)

 
I agree that a lot of trotters just need another year, certainly moreso than pacers. I do not follow pacers as closely but I know for sure some very average and/or unraced 2yo trotters have come back at 3 to be outstanding, and I get the sense that is less common in pacers. 

And yeah - Maryland doesn't appear crippled or terrible this year at all. Everyone (myself included) just expected him to dominate this year, too, and he hasn't. There are new players that have improved beyond him right now. I bet he brings home something big before the end of the year. He doesn't appear cooked.