Southwind Frank will start from post 5 in the second of two Hambletonian eliminations while Bar Hopping has the rail in the other elimination at the Meadowlands for the 91st edition of harness racing's premier event for 3-year-old trotters.
The Hambletonian format calls for eliminations on the same day as the $1 million final. A total of 18 horses entered this year's event, requiring a pair of nine-horse eliminations with the top five finishers in each advancing to the final. The winner of the final is crowned Hambletonian champion.
CBS Sports Network will air live coverage of the Hambletonian from 4-5:30 p.m. (EDT). The U.S. Pacing Championship and Hambletonian Oaks also will be featured during the 90-minute broadcast. First race post time on Hambletonian Day is noon.
Southwind Frank, with regular driver Yannick Gingras in the sulky for trainer Ron Burke, was made the 4-5 morning line favorite in his elimination. Bar Hopping is the 9-5 choice in the first elim.
The season-long favorite to win the Hambletonian, Southwind Frank enters the event off a 1:52.1 victory here in the slop Saturday night in the Reynolds Memorial Stakes. It was Southwind Frank's fifth win in six starts this season and his 16th in 18 lifetime races. He is owned by the Southwind Frank Partners, a group that includes Burke, and has earned $1.20 million in his career.
In 2015, Southwind Frank received both the U.S.'s Dan Patch and Canada's O'Brien awards for best 2-year-old male trotter.
Southwind Frank, a son of 2009 Hambletonian winner Muscle Hill out of the mare Flawless Lindy, gives Burke a top Hambletonian contender for the second consecutive year. Last year, filly Mission Brief won her elimination and finished second to Pinkman in the final.
Burke also will send Make Or Miss to the Hambletonian.
Trainer Jimmy Takter is going for an unprecedented third consecutive win in the Hambletonian, and is one shy of the stakes record of five held by fellow Hall of Famers Bill Haughton, Stanley Dancer and Ben White.
Takter will send five horses to the Hambletonian: Bar Hopping, Lagerfeld, Love Matters, Jimmy William, and Reigning Moni.
Bar Hopping holds the distinction of being the only horse to beat Southwind Frank. Bar Hopping won a division of the New Jersey Sire Stakes last year when Southwind Frank went off stride. In June, he defeated Southwind Frank by a neck in their elimination for the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial. Southwind Frank rebounded to win the Beal final, with Bar Hopping third.
Also a son of Muscle Hill, out of the mare Cocktail Hour, Bar Hopping has won three of 17 career races and hit the board a total of 12 times. He heads to the Hambletonian off a win in the Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial on July 24 at Vernon Downs.
"Of course, Bar Hopping is my best chance," Takter said. "I think this year is very open. Southwind Frank stands out a little bit more. I think I have Bar Hopping on the right plan, and I'm really happy with how he's progressing."
Marion Marauder, another son of Muscle Hill, has won four of five races this year, including the Goodtimes Stakes and a division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial, going 5 for 18 while earning $476,891. He is trained by the husband-and-wife team of Mike Keeling and Paula Wellwood and is owned by Marion Jean Wellwood and Devin Keeling.
Last year the colt finished second to Southwind Frank in the Breeders Crown and William Wellwood Memorial. The Wellwood is named in honor of Paula Wellwood's late father, who was a renowned trainer-driver and is enshrined in the Canadian and U.S. halls of fame.
Other trainers with multiple entries in the event are Julie Miller (Milligan's School and Sutton) and Ake Svanstedt (Mavens Way and The Royal Harry).
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In the other stakes drawn Monday afternoon at the Hambletonian press conference:
–All The Time is the 9/5 favorite from post 6 in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks, the companion event for trotting fillies.
Gingras drives for Takter who looks to sweep the both the Hambletonian and the Oaks for a third straight year.
–The "Big Three" are back for another tussle in the $233,000 U.S. Pacing Championship. Always B Miki, winner of Franklin and Haughton in his last two outings, is 3/5 favorite with David Miller at the lines for Takter from post 3.
Defending Horse of the Year, and last season's Meadowlands Pace winner, Wiggle It Jiggleit is the 3-1 second choice with Freaky Feet Pete third on Dave Little's morning line at 5-1.
–Resolve is the 2-1 favorite from post 5 for trainer-driver Svanstedt in the $273,000 John Cashman Memorial for older trotters.
–The Hambletonian isn't the only Triple Crown event on the Hambo Day card. Eleven, including the filly Pure Country, will contest the $320,600 Cane Pace at 1 1/8 miles.
Meadowlands Pace winner Control The Moment is the 2-1 choice from post 4 with Brian Sears driving for trainer Brad Maxwell.
Rachel Ryan