by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications
Freehold, NJ — There will be no shortage of award-winning horses on the track Saturday at the Meadowlands. The star-packed card features eight stakes events, with at least one Dan Patch Award winner in each. In fact, all told there will be the recipients of a combined 22 Dan Patch and O’Brien awards in action Saturday night at the Big M.
Marion Marauder, the 2016 Dan Patch Award Trotter of the Year and an O’Brien divisional champ, is the 6-5 morning line favorite in the $458,750 Hambletonian Maturity for 4-year-olds. He edged Dan Patch/O’Brien award-winning mare Hannelore Hanover by one vote in the closest Trotter of the Year balloting in the award’s 46-year history.
Last year, Marion Marauder won 10 of 15 races including the Hambletonian, Yonkers Trot and Kentucky Futurity on his way to becoming the ninth Trotting Triple Crown winner in history. This year, Marion Marauder has won two of three starts and heads to the Hambletonian Maturity off a 1:51.2 win in the Graduate Series championship for 4-year-olds last weekend at the Meadowlands.
“I can’t say enough about him,” Marion Marauder’s regular driver Scott Zeron said. “His transition from (age) 3 to 4 has been unbelievable. He got a little broader in the shoulders, looks better, and mentally his game has really evolved.
“Last year I tried to avoid putting him on the front too early in the race. Even at the three-quarter pole I didn’t really want to be on the front because he loves a target. It was a matter of timing his burst of speed at the end because he would always go on by, but then he would relax when he got by them.
“This year, I’ve been first up twice and he’s powered past horses and kept on pushing. He’s made my job easier. Not that I’m going to turn him into a front-runner, but I don’t have to worry about him relaxing when he gets the lead. He loves his job even more this year. It’s a great feeling.”
Hannelore Hanover, who won last year’s Hambletonian Maturity as a supplemental entry, is the 2-5 favorite in Saturday’s first of two divisions of the Miss Versatility Series for trotting mares.
Last year, Hannelore Hanover won 17 of 20 races. This year, she finished second in the Miami Valley Distaff to start the campaign but has since reeled off three consecutive wins, including the Armbro Flight Stakes.
“She hasn’t been as sharp as she was last year, but she’s coming closer and closer to it,” trainer Ron Burke said. “Hopefully we’re not that far. I look for her to be ready to go this week.”
The first division of the Miss Versatility also includes two-time O’Brien Award winner Caprice Hill. The second division is led by two-time Dan Patch Award winner Broadway Donna, who is the 2-1 favorite.
Following is a look at the award-winners in action Saturday, in race order.
Race 1: Ariana G (Dan Patch and O’Brien) in division of Delvin Miller Memorial.
Race 2: Hannelore Hanover, Caprice Hill.
Race 3: Walner (Dan Patch) in division of Stanley Dancer Memorial.
Race 5: Idyllic Beach (Dan Patch and O’Brien) in Mistletoe Shalee.
Race 6: Broadway Donna.
Race 8: Marion Marauder.
Race 9: Huntsville (Dan Patch) in Meadowlands Pace.
Race 10: Boston Red Rocks (Dan Patch) in William R. Haughton Memorial.
Race 11: Lady Shadow (Dan Patch, three-time O’Brien); Pure Country (two-time Dan Patch) in Golden Girls.
Race 13: Beyond Delight (O’Brien) in conditioned race.
For Saturday’s complete Meadowlands card, click here.
For a look at Meadowlands Pace night at a glance, click here.
- Powerful Huntsville Pace ready (Saturday, July 08, 2017)
Huntsville is ready for The Pace.The Ray Schnittker trainee had no trouble winning the Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace Elimination Saturday night (June 8) at The Meadowlands, stopping the clock in 1:48.4. It was 2-1/4 lengths back to Blood Line with Santafe’s Coach third. Earlier on the card Walner equaled Ariana G’s seasonal mark of 1:51.1 for 3-year-old trotters.
- Classic Pro takes free (legged) ride to Meadowlands Pace (Monday, July 10, 2017)
Classic Pro might be the easiest horse to identify in Saturday’s $738,550 Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace for 3-year-old pacers, but not because of any markings or equipment — or even a number — on the colt. It is because what Classic Pro will be missing: hobbles.
- Marion Marauder, Lady Shadow, and Walner headline Pace undercard stakes (Tuesday, July 11, 2017)
Nearly $3 million in Grand Circuit stakes will be contested on Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace night, Saturday (July 15) with an early post time of 6:30 p.m.
- Bowden hopes for no bad “Blood” in Meadowlands Pace (Tuesday, July 11, 2017)
Adam Bowden is never quite sure what to expect from Blood Line. Last weekend, the colt finished second to award-winning Huntsville in the Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace elimination, completing the mile in 1:49.1 with a :26.3 last quarter. In his previous start, Blood Line went off stride at odds of 2-1 in his elimination of the Hempt Memorial and failed to advance to the final. Needless to say, Bowden is hoping for more of the former than the latter in Saturday’s $738,550 Meadowlands Pace final for 3-year-old pacers at the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey.
- SNY to provide live coverage of Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace (Tuesday, July 11, 2017)
The 41st Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace will air live on SNY, Saturday (July 15) from 9–10 p.m.
- Bigger, stronger Marion Marauder ready for Hambletonian Maturity (Wednesday, July 12, 2017)
While some trainers might be upset they were unable to get their prized horse to the breeding shed, Paula Wellwood and Mike Keeling feel it’s a pretty good consolation prize that Marion Marauder can still race and will be on the track in Saturday’s $458,750 Hambletonian Maturity for 4-year-olds at the Meadowlands.
- Off-the-track excitement on Pace Night at The Meadowlands (Wednesday, July 12, 2017)
While the action on the track Saturday night (July 15) at the Meadowlands will be hot, with nearly $3 million in purses headlined by the $738,550 Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace, there will be plenty of action off the track as well.
- Meadowlands Pace card leads big Grand Circuit weekend (Wednesday, July 12, 2017)
The stakes heavy Saturday (July 15) Grand Circuit card at the Meadowlands features the $738,550 Meadowlands Pace for 3-year-olds.
- Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace Night at a glance (Wednesday, July 12, 2017)
Here is the Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace Night at a glance.
- Dancer Memorial is next stop for champion Walner (Thursday, July 13, 2017)
If Walner’s six rivals last week felt as though they were run over when the returning Dan Patch Award winner made his seasonal debut with a 7-1/2 length victory in 1:51.1, it’s no wonder. “You sit behind him and it feels like you’re driving a Corvette with a Mack truck engine,” Walner’s driver, Tim Tetrick, said after the win. “He’s ready to rock.”
- Top older pacers to tangle at Big M (Thursday, July 13, 2017)
Call Me Queen Be faces a tough group of older female pacers in Saturday’s $201,000 Golden Girls at the Meadowlands Racetrack, but driver Scott Zeron expects his mare to be in the thick of the action from the get-go. It’s been a successful formula for the horse, who has earned nearly $1.1 million in her career.
- Dream Baby Dream “keeps the fire burning” for Rod and Dawn Allen (Friday, July 14, 2017)
If there is anyone on the planet who intends to ask Rod Allen if he plans on procuring the services of another reinsman to steer his Delvin Miller Memorial contestant Dream Baby Dream in this event, or any other, be forewarned he will not even acknowledge the question. After all it is a silly question, as anyone familiar with Allen knows the only individual that will be holding the lines behind this filly is him.
- Pace Night highlights at The Meadowlands (Friday, July 14, 2017)
The Meadowlands presents “The Greatest Night in Harness Racing” this Saturday with the 41st edition of the track’s signature race, the Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace, for a purse of $738,550. There is an early 6:30 p.m. post time on Saturday.
- Schnittker/Tetrick look for another Meadowlands Pace triumph (Friday, July 14, 2017)
Trainer Ray Schnittker and driver Tim Tetrick have enjoyed success previously in the Meadowlands Pace, winning in 2010 with One More Laugh, and have a chance to add another trophy to their collections when award-winning Huntsville faces nine rivals in Saturday’s $738,550 edition of the Meadowlands Racetrack’s signature event.