Almost everyone is the world of harness racing has come across Greenshoe, winner of more than $1 million and also a huge favorite to win the 2019 Kentucky Futurity that will take place at The Red Mile situated in Lexington on 6 October 2019.
However, there’s only a handful of people that know that this colt started life under the name: Rifleman. During 2017, the son of Father Patrick went through the Selected Yearling Sale at Lexington under that name for $330,000 after he was sold to Courant Incorporated, a Swedish entity spearheaded by Anders Strom. Apart from Greenshoe, the owner also impresses with Morten Langli, Lars Granqvist, and Hans Backe.
The Anders Strom company does something unique when it comes to naming a horse. The company essentially names every generation of horses according to a letter in the alphabet and this season included the letter “G” in the world of Anders Strom. Therefore, Rifleman was changed to Greenshoe which is actually a financial term when it comes to IPO jargon. Greenshoe’s stablemates Gimpanzee and Green Manalishi S will him at the Kentucky Futurity, as they did during the Hambletonian.
Whenever there’s a sure-fire thing looming on the horizon, it seems like Marcus Melander is always benefitting from the situation as the trainer, and the Kentucky Futurity is no exception. Melander believes that Greenshoe can go in 1:48 after claiming victory at the Moni Bluegrass Stakes.
Greenshoe is definitely a valuable item at the moment, with 20% of breeding rights sold for $2.8 million to Hanover Show Farm. On Sunday, Greenshoe managed to claim victory in his division for the International Moni Bluegrass Stakes worth $192,200 at The Red Mile in an astonishing 1:49.40. Green Manalishi S claimed victory in the other division as the strong favorite for that race. Claiming victories in both divisions partly made up for the fact that Greenshoe lost in the Hambletonian for Melander.
The Hambletonian was a difficult defeat to take, especially when you consider that Greenshoe was a bit anxious during the race where he only managed to place second. In the same race, Green Manalishi managed to place fifth while Gimpanzee placed third. This certainly wasn’t the day that Melander had in mind but he cannot be disappointed with how things turned out for his three colts.
“I was happy with my horses (in the Hambo). It was the first time they raced twice,” Melander stated in Lexington, where his trio of colts have been training. As for Greenshoe, “He got tired because he was a little bit anxious and a little bit stressed because there were a lot of people and people before the races wanted to take a look at him. Of course, he felt something was going on. He got a little anxious and that took a lot of power out of him.”
Greenshoe was also anxious behind the gate and got distracted in the final which caused him to lose the race. Melander stated that he learned a great deal from that incident.
“A lot of people including me thought he was just going to go out and win but its horse racing,” Melander stated. “It’s a tough race to win. Everything needs to be 100 percent. If it’s just 98 percent and if another horse has everything perfect all the way…”
As for the other two horses in this power trio, Green Manalishi had a very difficult trip prior to finishing in fifth place. Gimpanzee, on the other hand, won the Breeders’ Crown race last year and finished strongly to end up in third place in the Hambo after he was dead last before coming down the stretch.
When it comes to the Kentucky Futurity, you should expect to find Greenshoe at the front. His regular driver, Brain Sears, has done a fantastic job at letting Greenshoe follow a helmet before he unleashes him when he reaches the halfway mark.
Greenshoe enjoys chasing down horses. However, he has recently displayed a different style in Lexington during the Kentucky Sire Stakes where he quickly takes the lead to win quite comfortably at the end. Perhaps this is something we will witness again at the Kentucky Futurity on 6 October 2019.
