from the Hambletonian Society

East Rutherford, NJ — The 2016 Hambletonian winner Marion Marauder returned to the scene of his greatest victory to win the $286,650 John Cashman Memorial for open trotters on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 4) at The Meadowlands.

Lisa photo

Marion Marauder rallied late to win the John Cashman Memorial.

He is the first Hambletonian winner to take the Cashman, formerly known as the Nat Ray Trot, since Mack Lobell, who won the Hambletonian in 1987 and the Cashman in 1988. He trotted the 1-1/8th mile distance in 2:06, with a mile time of 1:51.4, matching his Hambletonian clocking.

I Know My Chip (Victor Kirby) got to the :26.1 first quarter at the head of the dozen horse pack, soon overtaken by Marion Marauder, who then led the field to the :54.2 half. The 2017 Horse of the Year and the sole mare in the race, Hannelore Hanover, was three-wide and moving to the lead and held it to the 1:23.2 three-quarters.

As the field turned to go home, Will Take Charge (Tim Tetrick) came off the rail to challenge Hannelore Hanover and while those two were battling it out in deep stretch, Marion Marauder ranged up on the outside to win by a neck over Will Take Charge in 2:06. Hannelore Hanover was third by a half-length.

“He just has the will to win,” said winning driver Scott Zeron. “It’s just a matter of me getting him into the race, which has been difficult some places. But when he’s within reaching distance, doesn’t he always seem to get up?

“The trip couldn’t have worked out any better,” Zeron added. “He needed that whole quarter to get to the front. When he did, (In Secret) was at my wheel and I noticed that Yannick had made that three-wide move, which was even better. To follow him through the back half of the race was great. It was good for my horse not to have to cut the entire mile and an eighth. I couldn’t be any happier with the way it went.”

Marion Marauder returned $10.40 $4.60 $3.00, the exacta with Will Take Charge ($5.20 $3.20) was $41.60 and the 8-1-12 trifecta with Hannelore Hanover ($2.10) was $140.00.

The winner is owned by Ontario residents Marion Jean Wellwood and Devin Keeling and is trained by Paula Wellwood.