Trainer Marcus Melander's horses were ready to rock as the New Jersey Sire Stakes season for 3-year-olds kicked off on Friday night at the Meadowlands. Melander won three of the five $30,000 flights for trotters, all with different drivers. Melander teamed up with Brian Sears to win the first division for colt and gelding trotters with 9-1 shot Temporal Hanover. Sears angled Temporal Hanover out in the lane after following Majestic J (Todd McCarthy) from second-over and got up to beat stablemate and pocket-sitter Classic Hill (Tim Tetrick) by half a length in 1:54. Majestic J wound up third. A Walner colt bred by Hanover Shoe Farms Inc., Temporal Hanover is owned by Amg Stable Inc., Kenneth Kjellgren, Rick Wahlstedt, and Heights Stable. Temporal Hanover posted a 5-2-1 record from 13 starts a year ago and has now earned $222,666 lifetime. He paid $21 to win. In the third split for the boys, Periculum, driven by Marcus's brother Mattias, vaulted into the lead in the lane from third-over and drew off to prevail by four lengths in 1:55. Tachyon rallied from off-the-pace to finish second for trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt, and Gaelihill (Trond Smedshammer), who did most of the pace-making was fourth-placed-third. Bred by Order By Stable AB, Periculum is a colt by Muscle Hill and is owned by Holly Lane Stud East LTD., Brixton Medical Inc., and Howard Taylor. Periculum is now a three-time winner, has banked $101,406, and returned $9.80 to win as a 7-2 offering. Completing Melander's hat trick was Peyton Hanover (Tetrick) in the second of two sections for fillies. Tetrick swung Peyton Hanover to the outside from the pocket in the lane, and she was able to rally past leader Gracelyn Hanover (Corey Callahan) to score by three-quarters of a length in 1:54 4/5. Spendthemoneyhoney (Andy Miller) got up for third. Peyton Hanover, a daughter of Muscle Hill, is owned by Jeff Snyder and Four Friends Racing Stable. She made her second appearance in the winner's circle, has now put away $102,265, and paid $6.40 to win as the 2-1 second choice. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter The other test for the fillies saw Venerable (David Miller), the defending Dan Patch Award winner, kick off her season with a 1:55 1/5 victory. She bided her time in third, popped out first-over coming to three-quarters, and was able to rally past leader Jiggy Jog S (Svanstedt) at the wire to win by a nose in 1:55 1/5. Fashion Schooner (Tetrick) finished well of Venerable's cover to get third. Nifty Norman trains Venerable, a Walner filly bred by Maumee River Stables, Black Creek Farm, Martin Schmucker, and Steve Stewart, for owners David McDuffee, Mel Hartman, Paul Bordogna, and Steven Arnold. Venerable has ten wins and a second from 12 career starts, has now stashed away $1,054,966, and returned $6.20 to win as the 2-1 second choice. B A Superhero (Tetrick) moved to the outside from the two-hole turning for home, chased down front-stepping Looks Like Moni (Yannick Gingras) in mid-stretch, and captured the second showdown for colts and geldings by a length in 1:54 1/5. Saverio Hanover (D. Miller) was the third-place finisher. Winning Key Inc. owns B A Superhero, a Muscle Hill colt trained by Lucas Wallin. Bred by the late Robert J. Key, B A Superhero tallied his fourth triumph, now shows a bankroll of $97,654, and paid $3.00 to win as the 1-2 favorite. The New Jersey Sire Stakes events for pacers were both non-wagering events and carried purses of $20,000. Count Mara, a Lis Mara gelding, and Bee Aware, a daughter of Great Vintage, would emerge victorious. Dexter Dunn drove Count Mara to his maiden-breaking win for owner-trainer John Pyott and Steve Smith piloted Bee Aware, who also scored her initial triumph, for breeder-owner-trainer Laurie Molnar. BETTING TOPS $3 MILLION: With three races seeing total betting in excess of $300,000 - two of them GSY (Gural Settlemoir Yarock) Racing Club events - total wagering for the 13-race program topped $3 million for the eighth time in 2022 as a total of $3,118,436 was pushed through the windows despite the sloppy conditions. A LITTLE MORE: There were no winning tickets sold in the 20-cent Pick 6, creating a carryover of $8,406. Those with five correct collected $934.08. --handle details, Pick 6 carryover news courtesy of the Meadowlands--