He’s not crazy, he’s just Meshuggah

WASHINGTON, PA, July 11, 2024 — Meshuggah is the Yiddish word for crazy, so if there were a Standardbred named Meshuggah, what images might that conjure up? A fractious young harness racing colt trying to dig his way under pasture fences to freedom? A fiery-tempered chestnut filly with a mind of her own?

Actually, there is a freshman colt named Meshuggah (Greenshoe-Starita), and according to his trainer, Marcus Melander, he’s anything but crazy — a perfect gentleman with talent, in fact. He looms large in Friday’s $163,135 Pennsylvania Sires Stake for 2-year-old colt and gelding trotters, known as the Hickory Pride, at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows.

The program also features an $80,000 PA Stallion Series event for freshman colt and gelding trotters. First post is 5:10 PM.

Courant Inc, the colt’s owner, acquired the colt for $120,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale. He sold as Starquake Hanover, but Courant’s Anders Strom renamed him for the Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. Biographical material about the band, however, indicates the Yiddish word was the inspiration for the group’s name, so one way or another, that’s where all this craziness begins.

“He’s nice to be around and nice to drive,” Melander says. “He has a good pedigree, and he’s a good-looking horse. He’s a big horse who’s come to his speed early.”

Meshuggah debuted in a PA All-Stars split at Pocono and was a strong second, beaten only a neck in 1:57.2. That’s his lone start to date.

“He came home in 27.2, and I was very happy with him,” Melander says. “He’s staked to most of the big races, but we’ll start in PA Sires Stakes and go from there.”

As a game plan, that doesn’t sound Meshuggah at all.

Meshuggah goes from post 3, race three, with Dave Palone aboard. By the way, the horse that defeated Meshuggah in that PA All-Stars event, the Jim Campbell-trained Fashion Green, also is in the Hickory Pride. He leaves from post 2, race one, with Palone in the sulky.