The Hambletonian Maturity, a $450,000 race exclusively for 4-year-old trotters, drew 11 entrants and will go to post Saturday (July 13) at The Meadowlands.
Headlining the field is Atlanta, the 2018 Hambletonian winner and one of just 14 fillies to capture the classic event. Atlanta raced into the record books last Saturday in the Graduate final, catching world champion Six Pack at the wire in 1:49.1. That makes her the fastest trotting mare ever, and it was the fastest trotting mile ever at The Meadowlands.
A win in the Maturity by Atlanta, a daughter of Chapter Seven-Hemi Blue Chip, would make her just the second Hambletonian champion after Marion Marauder (2017) to capture the modern-day edition of the Maturity.
Post positions, driver choices, race number and morning line will be available when finalized.
The field in alphabetical order is:
Created by the Hambletonian Society and the Meadowlands as a racing opportunity solely for 4-year-olds previously eligible to the Hambletonian and Oaks, like those events the Maturity racing conditions prohibit the use of Lasix, the only race day medication permitted in New Jersey and entrants are subject to out of competition testing and a retention barn. The distance is 1-1/8 miles.
All starters in the race will receive money, with the winner receiving 50 percent of the purse. One percent of the total purse will be paid to the owners of the finalist finishing sixth through eleventh. The remainder of the purse for the Maturity will be divided 50-24-16-10 percent for the horses finishing second through fifth.
by Moira Fanning
for the Hambletonian Society