by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — While eyes at Saturday’s $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks for 3-year-old female trotters at the Meadowlands will likely be trained on morning-line favorite Ariana G and second choice Magic Presto, fans might want to use their peripheral vision to check out a few other possible challengers with upsets on their mind.

Ariana G is 6-5 while Magic Presto is 5-1, but not far behind is Feed Your Head at 6-1 in the No. 7 post. The horse has instant credibility just by her heavyweight connections — trainer Jimmy Takter, who has won the race a record-equaling six times, and driver Tim Tetrick, a two-time Oaks winner.

Feed Your Head recently gained the first win of her sophomore season, using a dominant, down-the-road performance to claim a Tompkins-Geers division on July 22. Yannick Gingras, who is driving Ariana G in the Oaks, was in the sulky for that one as the daughter of 2009 Hambletonian winner Muscle Hill won in a career-best 1:52.

New Image Media photo

Dream Together is the daughter of 2009 Hambletonian winner Muscle Hill and 2007 Oaks winner Danae.

Another dark horse is Dream Together, who is 8-1 and has the No. 2 post with driver Daniel Dube. She is the daughter of 2009 Hambletonian winner Muscle Hill and 2007 Oaks winner Danae.

“I’m very happy to be in the final,” trainer Luc Blais said about Dream Together. “I think she raced very good (in her elimination). That’s a nice bunch of fillies. It was a tough division. She stepped up. That’s good.”

Blais feels that the horse’s consistency has been her strong point this year.

“I think if you see the program, that’s what you see,” he said. “She progressed very well. When you look at her lines, every start, she never made a bad race. I think she is better than last year. You can see she showed lots of talent, but this year she came back stronger and better.”

Three other horses are at 10-1: Southwind Avanti, Fine Tuned Lady and Overdraft Volo.

Driven by Jason Bartlett and trained by Anette Lorentzon, Southwind Avanti drew post one.

“If she can draw good, she can pick up a good check,” assistant trainer Anna Lorentzon said prior to the draw. “She raced really good (in the elimination), she stayed nice and quiet too, so that was good. She came home strong. Those are big pluses compared to the last time she raced.”

Southwind Avanti does not show much in training, but gave a good showing in her first qualifier that instilled enthusiasm.

“We raced her easy to brave her up and see what kind of horse she was,” Lorentzon said. “We were hoping she was this kind of horse, but you never know until you make them go as fast as they have to. We are very happy with her.

“She gets a little hot sometimes, that’s the only thing. We never push her off the gate because she can get hot. It’s hard to get her to relax. We try to take her off the gate and hopefully have something left in the tank at the end.”

Lisa photo

Overdraft Volo won a division of the Delvin Miller Memorial this year in addition to two Pennsylvania Sire Stakes divisions.

Trained by Julie Miller with husband Andy in the sulky, Overdraft Volo drew post No. 9. The horse won a division of the Delvin Miller Memorial this year in addition to two Pennsylvania Sire Stakes divisions.

“She’s having a really good year, kind of quietly,” Andy Miller said. “Hopefully she keeps having a good year. I don’t know if she’s as good as a few of them, but she makes her presence felt pretty good. She’s grown up and developed a lot from last year. She’s just a solid, nice filly. She’s good gaited and puts in a good effort all the time.”

Racing begins at noon Saturday at the Meadowlands and the Sam McKee Memorial, Hambletonian Oaks and Hambletonian air live from 4-5:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

$500,000 Hambletonian Oaks
PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-Line
1-Southwind Avanti-Jason Bartlett-Anette Lorentzon-10/1
2-Dream Together-Daniel Dube-Luc Blais-8/1
3-Caviart Wonder-Andy McCarthy-Noel Daley-20/1
4-Ariana G-Yannick Gingras-Jimmy Takter-6/5
5-Magic Presto-Brian Sears-R. Nifty Norman-5/1
6-Fine Tuned Lady-Corey Callahan-John Butenschoen-10/1
7-Feed Your Head-Tim Tetrick-Jimmy Takter-6/1
8-Sunshine Delight-Brett Miller-Staffan Lind-20/1
9-Overdraft Volo-Andy Miller-Julie Miller-10/1
10-Dream Baby Dream-Rod Allen-Rod Allen-15/1