EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Twenty fillies entered today for the $500,000
Hambletonian Oaks, the filly division of the Hambletonian.
Hambletonian Festival week kicks off on July 30
with two $50,000 eliminations to narrow the field to 10 for the $500,000 Oaks
Final on Hambletonian Day, Sat., Aug. 6, at The Meadowlands Racetrack, East
Rutherford, NJ.
Favorite in the field will be Dan Patch
divisional Champion Broadway Donna, a daughter of 2007 Hambletonian winner
Donato Hanover and 2009 Oaks winner Broadway Schooner. Owned by Jules Siegel’s
Fashion Farms and trained by Jim Campbell, Broadway Donna has made just three
starts this year, with 2 wins and a second. She prevailed by a gritty
half-length in her division of the Del Miller Memorial over All The Time and
Celebrity Eventsy on July 16 at The
Meadowlands.
The other Miller Memorial division featured a
rare deadheat between Unica Steed and Woman’s Will. Those two will match up
again in the same Oaks elimination along with Ontario Sires Stake star Caprice
Hill, making her first pari-mutuel Meadowlands appearance after racking up more
than $578,696 north of the border.
Swedish trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt entered a
total of five fillies in the Oaks elims. Jimmy Takter has three
representatives, including Unica Steed, a daughter of 1998 Hambletonian winner
Muscles Yankee and Premier Steed by Workaholic. Unica Steed was foaled in
Italy, sired in France and is owned by French stable Ecurie AB Trot, and yet
has American trotting blood coursing through both sides of her pedigree.
$50,000 Oaks Elim for Sat., July 30
Post Position
|
Horse
|
Trainer
|
Driver
|
1
|
WILDFLOWER
|
Ake Svanstedt
|
Ake Svanstedt
|
2
|
CELEBRITY EVENTSY
|
Staffan Lind
|
John Campbell
|
3
|
SPICEDBOURBONGIRL
|
Jeff Gregory
|
Jeff Gregory
|
4
|
SYNONYMOUS HANOVER
|
Chris Oakes
|
Brett Miller
|
5
|
ALL
THE TIME
|
Jimmy Takter
|
Yannick Gingras
|
6
|
DOUBLE
EXPOSURE
|
Tony Alagna
|
Tim Tetrick
|
7
|
MISS TEZSLA
|
Jimmy Takter
|
Brett Miller
|
8
|
BROADWAY DONNA
|
Jim Campbell
|
David Miller
|
9
|
SOUTHWIND PEARL
|
Jonas Czernyson
|
Scott Zeron
|
10
|
GRACIE HANOVER
|
Ake Svanstedt
|
TBA
|
$50,000 Oaks Elim for Sat., July 30
Post Position
|
Horse
|
Trainer
|
Driver
|
1
|
SIDE
BET HANOVER
|
Jonas
Czernyson
|
Corey
Callahan
|
2
|
UNICA
STEED
|
Jimmy
Takter
|
Tim
Tetrick
|
3
|
BLACK
BROADWAY
|
Michael
Eaton
|
Brian
Sears
|
4
|
DREAM
CHILD
|
Linda
Toscano
|
John
Campbell
|
5
|
CAPRICE
HILL
|
Tony
Alagna
|
Tim
Tetrick
|
6
|
DANCING
IN THEHALL
|
Ake
Svanstedt
|
Ake
Svanstedt
|
7
|
WOMANS
WILL
|
Julie
Miller
|
Andy
Miller
|
8
|
WINDOWSHOPPER
|
Ake
Svanstedt
|
Ake
Svanstedt
|
9
|
GINNY
WEASLEY
|
Ake
Svanstedt
|
Ake
Svanstedt
|
10
|
FLOWERS
N SONGS
|
Paul
Reid
|
Yannick
Gingras
|
The top five finishers in each elim will advance
to the final on Aug. 6. Elimination winners draw for inside posts 1-5 and
all other finalists will then be placed in an open draw. The winner of the
final on Aug. 6 is the Oaks winner, regardless of elimination finish on July
30.
Entries for the Hambletonian close at 9:00 a.m.
on Aug. 1 at The Meadowlands race office.
Post positions for the $500,000 final will be
drawn and morning lines assigned on Monday Aug. 1, at the Hambletonian Press
conference and post-positions draw, at 4:00 p.m. in Victory Sports Bar at The
Meadowlands. The draw will be streamed live on the Meadowlands web site.
The $300,000 John Cashman Jr. Memorial, $284,000
Cane Pace, $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks and $1 million Hambletonian will be
featured on a live 90-minute broadcast on CBS Sports Network from 4-5:30 p.m.
[EDT] on Aug. 6.
Hambletonian Day is closing day with a post time
of 12:00 noon, and the zenith of the Championship Meet. Fans can follow the
next two action-filled weekends at Hambletonian.com, meadowlandsracetrack.com
and on Twitter at #Hambo16.
