by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — Bob Stewart has been in this position before with this colt’s sire, champion Andover Hall in 2002 and the stallion’s standout older brother Conway Hall in 1998, but both those horses, who were outstanding individuals, failed to bring home the Hambletonian hardware.

Conway Hall was returning from an injury and illness and finished fourth, while Andover Hall, the favorite, broke stride and galloped around the track, enabling Chip Chip Hooray to have his picture taken.

Creatine, however, is coming into this year’s edition of the trotting classic without the fanfare of his famous father and Stewart is hoping this colt will be able to accomplish what the other two could not.

“I know there are a lot of nice horses in there and it’s not the easiest race to win,” the 58-year-old Lexington, Ky., resident said. “But I’m very pleased with how my horse is coming into the race and I wouldn’t trade places with anybody.”

Nigel Soult photo

Creatine has five wins in his career, with lifetime earnings of $126,547.

The colt will leave from post eight right alongside Dontyouforgetit in the eighth race, the second of three Hambletonian eliminations, on the Meadowlands card this Saturday (Aug. 3). Post time is set for 2:51 p.m.

The top three finishers from each elim plus the fourth-place finisher with the highest lifetime earnings will advance to the Hambletonian final, which will be contested later in the day. CBS Sports Network will air live coverage of the Hambletonian from 3:30-5 p.m. CBS Sports Network is a premium cable offering, not a “free” channel. Check with your provider to see if CBSSN is part of your package.

A homebred owned by Diamond Creek Racing, Creatine is out of the Muscles Yankee mare Berry Nice Muscles and is a half-brother to Strawberry Wine (Kadabra, 4,1:56f, $101,285) and Mister Anson (Conway Hall, $18,472).

The colt did not make his first start until Aug. 19, 2012 at The Red Mile in a $2,100 non-winners race. He captured that and another $2,300 non-winners race on Sept. 1, before finishing seventh under similar conditions on Sept. 8. He redeemed himself with a second in a $10,000 Kindergarten leg on Sept. 13 and third in another $10,000 leg on Sept. 20 before taking a $101,000 division of the Bluegrass Stakes in 1:57.1 on Sept. 28. His next race and his last start of the season was a fourth in an $82,750 division of the International Stallion Stakes on Oct. 5. He earned a little over $63,000 and established a record of 7-3-1-1.

“We decided to stop with him and not go to the Breeders Crown or any of the other year-end races, because we thought he had raced enough as a 2-year-old,” Stewart said. “We were concentrating on this year and he came back to our expectations.”

While the divisional leaders have been slugging it out, Creatine has been steadily advancing towards his engagement at the Meadowlands this Saturday afternoon. He opened the year with a victory in a $10,000 conditioned race at the Meadowlands on May 31, and then traveled to Pocono Downs on June 16 to compete in a $79,816 Pennsylvania Sire Stake contest. He was seventh after jumping it off before the opening quarter. Creatine then was fifth in his $25,000 Earl Beal elimination the following week after leaving from the eight hole.

In his next two starts on June 28 and July 5 at the Meadowlands, in a $20,000 conditioned race and the $50,278 Reynolds Memorial, Creatine came home second on both occasions behind Spider Blue Chip.

“I thought in both those races we should have been at least a little bit closer to Spider Blue Chip,” Stewart said. “That’s when we found he was having a problem breathing so we did throat surgery on him right after that race (the Reynolds) and brought him back at Philadelphia (winning a $79,416 PA Sire Stake on July 18 in 1:54.4) and we were very happy with him. He trotted very strong to the wire and had no problem at all.”

Stewart toyed with the idea of racing him last week, but was pleased with his colt’s conditioning and recognizing it’s a long season decided to keep him in the barn. While he’s not exactly jumping for joy over Creatine’s draw, he isn’t disappointed and has no concerns about the colt’s performance in a contest with heat racing.

“When you win no one cares what hole they left from,” he said. “This colt is very versatile and I don’t think he could come into the race any better. Heat racing was never a problem with Angus Hall or Conway Hall, so it’s not a concern for me with him either. This first race is about getting into the final and then we will see what happens from there. It is kind of nice to be flying under the radar.”

The colt’s regular pilot, Mike Lachance, will be seeking his fifth Hambletonian victory and is taking a wait and see approach.

“He’s a nice colt and is very handy,” said Lachance. “He will do anything you ask of him. Of course I would have rather drawn inside, but we will watch to see what everyone else is doing behind the gate and then go from there. We just need to get into the final and we’ll see how everything plays out, but he is a good horse and I’m happy with how he’s coming into the race.”

After Creatine contests the Hambletonian, his schedule will include competing later into the fall than he did last year as a 2-year-old.

“If he races well we will give him a couple weeks off, like maybe three, and then possibly put him in a Pennsylvania Sire Stake,” Stewart said. “But he definitely is going to Lexington and the Breeders Crown this year if all goes well.”