17 Enter Hambletonian Oaks; Two elimiantions for Sat., July 28

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. --- Seventeen 3-year-olds trotters entered today for the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks, the filly division of the Hambletonian.

Hambletonian Festival week kicks off on July 28 with two $50,000 eliminations to narrow the field to 10 for the $500,000 Oaks final on Hambletonian Day, Saturday, Aug. 4, at The Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J.

The recent battle between Dan Patch Award champion Manchego and rival Plunge Blue Chip in a division of the Del Miller Memorial at The Meadowlands resulted in a near dead-heat with Plunge Blue Chip emerging a nostril ahead in a world-record 1:49.4.

The two fillies were seeded into different Oaks eliminations, with Plunge Blue Chip receiving post eight in one and Manchego receiving post seven in the other. The other Del Miller Memorial winner, Phaetosive, will start inside of Plunge Blue Chip with post five in their elimination.

Manchego has lost just two of 17 career starts, breaking against males in the Beal Memorial final on June 30, and the aforementioned nose loss to Plunge Blue Chip. Her career earnings stand at $961,170 for trainer Jimmy Takter and owners Black Horse Racing, John Fielding and Herb Liverman.

Plunge Blue Chip, driven and trained by Ake Svanstedt, has a record of 5-3-2-0 in 2018 for an ownership comprised of Svanstedt Stable, Blue Chip Bloodstock, Zeron Racing Stables and Tomas Andersson. Her only losses this year have come in meetings with Atlanta, the top filly in the division, whose connections opted to race the males in the $1 million Hambletonian Open. The daughter of Muscle Mass-Dunk The Donut became the fastest 3-year-old of any gender with her recent 1:49.4 score.

For the first time this year Plunge Blue Chip will face Phaetosive, driven and trained by Trond Smedshammer and owned by Purple Haze Stables. The daughter of

Explosive Matter-Phaeton was a $65,000 purchase at the Standardbred Horse Sale in 2016 and has earned her connections $352,358 in just 10 lifetime starts. 

The Oaks elimination fields are as follows:

$50,000 Oaks Elim for Saturday, July 28

Post Position	Horse	Trainer	Driver
1	Blonde Magic	Thomas Durand	Thomas Durand
2	Lima Novelty	Linda Toscano	Scott Zeron
3	Winbak Noelle	Lucas Wallin	Andrew McCarthy
4	Perfect Summer K	Andrew Harris	Louis Roy
5	Phaetosive	Trond Smedshammer	Trond Smedshammer
6	Live Laugh Love	R. Nifty Norman	David Miller
7	Nixie Volo	John Butenschoen	Corey Callahan
8	Plunge Blue Chip	Ake Svanstedt	Ake Svanstedt

$50,000 Oaks Elim for Saturday, July 28

Post Position	Horse	Trainer	Driver
1	What A Knockout	Marcus Melander	David Miller
2	Bill’s Lady	John Butenschoen	Corey Callahan
3	Lily Stride	Mark Harder	Tim Tetrick
4	Hey Blondie	Chuck Sylvester	Andrew McCarthy
5	Fly Fly Selena	Dustin Jones	Brett Miler
6	Courtney Hanover	Rick Zeron	Scott Zeron
7	Manchego	Jimmy Takter	Yannick Gingras
8	Piranha Fury	R. Nifty Norman	Tim Tetrick
9	Seviyorum	Julie Miller	Andy Miller

The top five finishers in each elim will advance to the final on Aug. 4. There is no Lasix or any race day medication permitted in the eliminations or finals of the Hambletonian Oaks or Open. 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. 4 is the Oaks winner, regardless of elimination finish on July 28.

Post positions for the $500,000 final will be drawn and morning lines assigned on Tuesday, July 31, on a Facebook live post-position draw at 2 p.m. on the Meadowlands Facebook page and also streamed live on the Meadowlands YouTube channel.

The $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. 4.

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 #Hambo18.