from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — Hambletonian hopeful Adrian Chip jogged under the lights after the last race on Wednesday night (July 25) at the Meadowlands.

Lisa Photo

Adrian Chip takes a jog around The Meadowlands in preparation for his start in the Hambletonian eliminations.

The colt has not raced since winning the Ulf Thoresen Memorial in Norway on July 15. He will go postward in Saturday’s eliminations for the $1.5 million Hambletonian, hoping to become the second Swedish horse in six years to win the most prestigious trot in harness racing. In 2001, Scarlet Knight followed the same path to Hambletonian glory.

The 2007 Hambletonian will be contested on Saturday, August 4, at the Meadowlands.

Although foaled in southern Ohio, Adrian Chip spent his sophomore season in Sweden until now. He has won four out of five starts this year for driver-trainer Robert Bergh and NHL star center Peter Forsberg, who races as Forspro AB of Domsjo, Sweden. Forsberg, is currently a free agent. He played the 2005-2006 season with the Philadelphia Flyers and split the 2006-2007 season with the Flyers and the Nashville Predators. Prior to that, he spent eight years on the Colorado Avalanche.

As a 2-year-old, Adrian Chip raced in the United States and Canada under the tutelage of trainer Per Henriksen. After winning his first three starts at Rideau Carleton, Adrian Chip went on to finish third behind Donato Hanover in the $600,000 Breeders Crown at Woodbine. He then went on to win his Matron elimination at Dover in 1:55.3, a world record for a freshman trotting colt on a five-eighths-mile oval, and finished second in the $209,626 final.

Adrian Chip concluded his freshman season with five wins, three seconds and one third in nine starts.

He was exported to Sweden late in 2006, when he was bought by Forsberg and sent to trainer Robert Bergh, who is based in Sundsvall, Sweden.

Adrian Chip will start from post six in race six, the last of three $70,000 Hambletonian eliminations on Saturday, July 28. Post time for the special twilight card is 5:00 p.m.