from the Meadowlands Media Relations Department

East Rutherford, NJ — The 93rd Hambletonian at the Meadowlands will feature a bet that takes horseplayers back to the future — a Hambletonian Future wager. Beginning at 12 noon (EDT) on Friday (June 22), wagering will open on the first of three pools for the $1 million Hambletonian race conducted Saturday (Aug. 4) at The Meadowlands.

Wagering will be available at racetrack and online sites throughout North America and internationally until Sunday (June 24) at 10 p.m. (EDT) when the first Future pool will close.

A team of harness racing analysts and handicappers, led by Meadowlands announcer Ken Warkentin, whose Road to the Hambletonian annually tracks the leading candidates to the race, will select a group of 14 trotters out of the 235 colts, fillies and geldings that remain eligible to start in the Hambletonian after the final Feb. 15 payment.

Though fillies have their own division in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks, several have started in the $1 million event for males in recent years, most recently world champion Mission Brief, who was second to Pinkman in 2015. The connections of two fillies, Manchego and Atlanta, have not ruled out the richer division yet.

The horses in each of the pools will be listed in alphabetical order. The mutuel field will consist of the remaining horses eligible to the 93rd edition of America’s Trotting Classic, including all fillies eligible to the Oaks. There are no supplements permitted to the Hambletonian or Oaks.

The minimum future wager is $1 and all future wagers are win wagering only. The winner of each pool will be determined by the official first-place finisher in the 2018 Hambletonian.

The second future pool will open Friday (July 20) and close Sunday (July 22). The third and final future wager pool will open Wednesday (Aug. 1), when the entries and elimination heats will be sorted, and close on Friday (Aug. 3), Hambletonian eve.

The Hambletonian Future wager will be set-up in the tote system as one separate event. The event code is MZH and the future wager pools will be placed as follows:

• Race 1: Hambletonian Future Wager Pool 1 — June 22 opens at noon (EDT) — June 24 closes at 10 p.m. (EDT)
• Race 2: Hambletonian Future Wager Pool 2 — July 20 opens at noon (EDT) — July 22 closes at 10 p.m. (EDT)
• Race 3: Hambletonian Future Wager Pool 3 — Aug. 1 opens at noon (EDT) — Aug. 3 closes at 10 p.m. (EDT)

Past performance lines for the Hambletonian eligible horses will be available free of charge on the Meadowlands website at www.playmeadowlands.com. All rules and updates can be found there and on www.Hambletonian.com.