East Rutherford, NJ — The 98th Hambletonian begins on Saturday night (July 28) at The Meadowlands with a pair of $100,000 eliminations and there are three sons of Ontario sires in the field, Ghostly Casper, Osceola, and Tuscan Prince.

Ghostly Casper from the barn of Ben Baillargeon is in race six, the first elimination. Hall of Famer David Miller will pilot him from post three.

“We drew good, and I have Dave Miller driving him,” said Baillargeon. “I have a good relationship with him when I go to the states. I think he is a very classy driver, and he has nothing to prove to nobody and I am very good with him driving my horse.”

Ghostly Casper from the barn of Ben Baillargeon is in race six, the first Hambo elimination. New Image Media photo.

A son of Resolve, Ghostly Casper’s 2023 racelines show a mixed bag of results. He started his stakes engagements by going off-stride in the SBOA final, and then rebounded with a sharp off the pace score in the opening Ontario Sires Stakes Gold leg of the season. In his Goodtimes elimination he battled traffic to finish fourth and qualified for the final where he again faced traffic and finished eighth. Next time out he dominated conditioned foes, winning by three lengths on June 27, and in the most recent OSS Gold leg he was second with plenty of trot coming down the stretch.

“His last race was awesome. It was a big race,” said Baillargeon. “Ten feet after the wire he was in front. He was three wide in the last turn and trotted (1:52.3) and got beat by barely a head.”

His most recent result combined with scheduling that gave him three weeks between the last Gold leg and the eliminations were among the factors that led to Baillargeon and his ownership partners Santo Vena, Nunzio Vena, and Teresa Davidson sending their colt to the most famous harness race in North America.

He also came out of his last race in good condition, and has trained well since, putting in a 1:55 mile last week and training solidly again this week,” said Baillargeon.

As of Thursday afternoon, it was just Baillargeon and Ghostly Casper down in New Jersey, with Santo and Nunzio arriving on Saturday.

“It is me and my horse, I take care of him, I’m grooming him, and I am doing everything,” said Baillargeon. “So just me and one horse, but I take care of him at the farm too, I’m his caretaker on top of his trainer and his owner. I am everything to him. I know all of his quirks.”

The Hambletonian is arguably the greatest prize in harness racing, and Baillargeon is looking forward to having a horse in the race.

“To win this race, and hopefully we make the final, you have to have everything work for you that day,” said Baillargeon. “Not only my horse but every horse. In a race like that the trip has to work out, everything has to work out, and all the stars have to be aligned.”

Osceola, one of the other Ontario sired entrants, is also in race six, having drawn the rail position for trainer Gregg McNair with his son Doug in the bike. The son of Muscle Mass is an exceptionally talented colt, but has struggled with consistency throughout his racing career. This season he has two wins from five starts, but made breaks in both of his last two outings. To prep for the elimination, he minded his manners in a qualifier on July 21, cutting the entire mile in 1:53.4.

McNair co-owns the colt with Willow Oak Ranch and Paul Hawman.

The third Ontario sired contender is Tuscan Prince who drew the rail position in race nine, the second elimination. Trained by Luc Blais for Serge Godin’s Determnation Stable he was the top Ontario sired finisher in the Goodtimes with a third place result. In six starts this year he has two wins and three thirds. He’ll need to be sharp on Saturday to advance to the following weekend. Louis-Phillipe Roy is driving.

Following are the fields for the Hambletonian eliminations:

First Elimination (Race 6)
PP – Horse – Driver – Trainer – Morning Line
1 – Osceola – Doug McNair – Gregg McNair – 20-1
2 – Oh Well – Tim Tetrick – Marcus Melander – 2-1
3 – Ghostly Casper – David Miller – Benoit Baillargeon – 15-1
4 – Djimon – Bob McClure – Mark Steacy – 30-1
5 – Kierkegaard K – Ake Svanstedt- Ake Svanstedt – 7-2
6 – Point Of Perfect – Yannick Gingras – Ron Burke – 8-1
7 – Little Expensive – Andy Miller – Julie Miller – 10-1
8 – Southwind Coors – James MacDonald – Matt Bax – 5-1
9 – Gaines Hanover – Louis Roy – Claude Cadieux – 9-2
10 – Kilmister – Brian Sears – Marcus Melander – 12-1

Second Elimination (Race 9)
PP – Horse – Driver – Trainer – Morning Line
1 – Tuscan Prince – Louis Roy – Luc Blais – 10-1
2 – Crown – Brian Sears – Marcus Melander – 20-1
3 – Up Your Deo – Ake Svanstedt – Ake Svanstedt – 7-2
4 – French Wine – Andy Miller – Julie Miller – 15-1
5 – Celebrity Bambino – Yannick Gingras – Ron Burke – 9-2
6 – Air Power – Orjan Kihlstrom – Marcus Melander – 5-2
7 – One Hundred Poof – Matt Kakaley – Jenny Melander – 30-1
8 – Tactical Approach – Scott Zeron – Nancy Takter – 5-1
9 – Excalibur Bi – Andrew McCarthy – Tom Cancelliere – 15-1
10 – Winner’s Bet – Dexter Dunn – Domenico Cecere – 4-1