by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications
Freehold, NJ — It is no secret that trainer Jimmy Takter has enjoyed great success in the Hambletonian Stakes.
The 55-year-old Hall of Famer has won the race four times, including each of the past two years, and would become the first trainer in history to three-peat with a win on Saturday. A victory would also give Takter a record-tying fifth triumph, putting him in the company of Stanley Dancer, Billy Haughton and Ben White in that elite club.
But what is the secret to his success?
“The secret, I think, is to stick with what you normally do,” Takter said. “Most trainers, including me when I was younger, start thinking about it and changing stuff and doing things differently. People start over-doing things, train the horses maybe a little harder, or whatever. I don’t think that’s smart. I think that’s where experience comes in.
“The horse has no clue it’s the Hambletonian. The driver and trainer, yes. But the horse has no clue.”
Takter will send five horses into Saturday’s $1.14 million Hambletonian, presented by Mullinax Ford, for 3-year-old trotters at the Meadowlands Racetrack: Bar Hopping, Lagerfeld, Love Matters, Jimmy William, and Reigning Moni.
The Hambletonian format calls for any eliminations to be contested the same day as the final. A total of 18 horses entered this year’s event, requiring two eliminations from which the top five finishers in each division advance to the final. The winner of the final is the Hambletonian champion.
Bar Hopping is regarded as Takter’s top contender and holds the distinction of being the only horse to win a race in which Southwind Frank competed. Bar Hopping won a division of the New Jersey Sire Stakes last year when Southwind Frank went off stride and in June defeated Southwind Frank by a neck in their elimination for the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial.
Southwind Frank, who has won 16 of 18 lifetime starts and earned $1.20 million for trainer Ron Burke, is the expected Hambletonian favorite.
Bar Hopping, who missed nearly two months of action last year because of sickness, has won three of 17 career races and hit the board a total of 12 times. He heads to the Hambletonian off a win in the Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial Main Event on July 24 at Vernon Downs.
“At least we know he’s challenged (Southwind) Frank,” Takter said. “He beat him fair and square earlier this year. Maybe (Southwind) Frank wasn’t at his best. Last year I thought he was very outstanding. But Ronnie is a professional and knows what he is doing. I’m sure he is going to have his horse ready as a contender.”
Lagerfeld was last year’s Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion. Jimmy William was limited to one start last season and Love Matters joined Takter’s stable late in 2015. Reigning Moni punched his ticket to the Hambletonian with a 7-3/4 length win in 1:52.4 last Friday in a conditioned race at the Meadowlands.
“This year I had a bunch of 3-year-olds that I liked early as 2-year-olds, but every single one of them got sick,” Takter said. “It was a disaster year with the 2-year-olds. I never had a 2-year-old group get sick so much.”
Takter won his first Hambletonian with Malabar Man in 1997. He won again with Muscle Massive in 2010, then Trixton in 2014 and Pinkman in 2015. He also was the driver of Trixton.
“The Hambletonian is the biggest race we have,” Takter said. “No matter how many times you win it, you get that kick out of it. I love to win the big races. Those are my moments.
“But it’s also a heck of a race for a horse’s resume. Pinkman was a gelding, but it was huge for Trixton and Malabar Man and Muscle Massive. You’re set as a stallion if you win that race.”
The $225,550 U.S. Pacing Championshjp, $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks and $1 million Hambletonian will be featured during a live 90-minute broadcast on CBS Sports Network from 4-5:30 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday. Hambletonian Day post time is noon.
Below are the fields for the two Hambletonian eliminations:
$70,000 Hambletonian Elimination 1
Race 8 – Post time 2:58 p.m.
PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-Morning Line
1. Bar Hopping–Tim Tetrick–Jimmy Takter–9/5
2. Lagerfeld–Yannick Gingras–Jimmy Takter–12/1
3. Make Or Miss–Joe Bongiorno–Ron Burke–20/1
4. Milligan’s School–Andy Miller–Julie Miller–10/1
5. Brooklyn Hill–David Miller–Jonas Czernyson–3/1
6. Mavens Way–John Campbell–Ake Svanstedt–6/1
7. Tight Lines–Jeff Gregory–Jeff Gregory–25/1
8. Iron Mine Bucky–George Dennis–Greg Haverstick–15/1
9. Reigning Moni–David Miller–Jimmy Takter–4/1
$70,000 Hambletonian Elimination 2
Race 9 – Post time 3:25 p.m.
PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-Morning Line
1. Jimmy William–Tim Tetrick–Jimmy Takter–20/1
2. The Royal Harry–Ake Svanstedt–Ake Svanstedt–20/1
3. Sutton–Andy Miller–Julie Miller–6/1
4. Marion Marauder–Scott Zeron–Paula Wellwood–3/1
5. Southwind Frank–Yannick Gingras–Ron Burke–4/5
6. Hollywood Highway–John Campbell–Staffan Lind–30/1
7. Dominion Beach–Bjorn Goop–Nancy Johansson–30/1
8. Love Matters–Brett Miller–Jimmy Takter–12/1
9. Waitlifter K–David Miller–Andrew Harris–10/1
- Southwind Frank, Bar Hopping favored in Hambo elims (Monday, August 01, 2016)
Southwind Frank will start from post 5 in the second of two Hambletonian eliminations while Bar Hopping will start from post 1 in the remaining elimination when 18 hopefuls meet Saturday (Aug. 6) at the Meadowlands for the 91st edition of harness racing’s premier event for 3-year-old trotters.
- Iron Mine Bucky’s connections are excited heading into the Hambletonian (Wednesday, August 03, 2016)
When the mare My Foolish Dream gave birth to a colt on Bud Carter’s Delaware farm three years ago, farm assistant Greg Haverstick looked at the foal and told Carter, “There’s something special about him already.” There was no telling what the future held for the horse, or those around him, but it turned out Haverstick was correct. The colt, Iron Mine Bucky, is racing in Saturday’s (Aug. 6) $1.14 million Hambletonian Stakes for 3-year-old trotters at the Meadowlands Racetrack. And he is bringing Carter, Haverstick, and others on the journey of a lifetime.
- Western New York ties in Hambletonian with Tight Lines (Wednesday, August 03, 2016)
It’s a rarity to see a Western New York connection in the Hambletonian but there’s one set for the 2016 edition which is scheduled for this Saturday afternoon (Aug. 6) at The Meadowlands. Buffalo Trotting Association President Bill Richardson along with former Buffalo Raceway regular Jeff Gregory have teamed up along with Jesmeral Stable (Steven Finkelstein) to send the 3-year-old gelding trotter Tight Lines (Yankee Glide-Ilia) into this year’s Hambletonian.
- Don’t count out the ‘other guys’ in Hambletonian (Wednesday, August 03, 2016)
A word of advice concerning Saturday’s Hambletonian: don’t take the “other guys” for granted. Southwind Frank and Bar Hopping will be the clear-cut favorites when the 91st edition of the Hambletonian takes place at the Meadowlands on Saturday (Aug. 6). But there are four talented dark horses that can make things very interesting coming down the stretch. They are Sutton, Milligan’s School, Marion Marauder and Brooklyn Hill.
- Hambletonian Day in Grand Circuit spotlight (Wednesday, August 03, 2016)
Grand Circuit action takes place this Saturday (Aug. 6) at Meadowlands Racetrack with one of the biggest Grand Circuit cards of the season. The afternoon program is led by the $1.14 million Hambletonian, the first leg of trotting’s Triple Crown for 3-year-olds.
- Bongiorno is looking forward to Hambletonian experience (Thursday, August 04, 2016)
Joe Bongiorno is in position to become the youngest driver to ever win the Hambletonian, presented by Mullinax Ford, harness racing’s most prestigious event. That can lead to some pretty anxious moments in the days leading up to the race. But the 22-year-old from Colts Neck, N.J., has a great way of not thinking about it. He just doesn’t give himself the chance. With the 91st edition of the Hambletonian set to take place at the Meadowlands on Saturday (Aug. 6), Bongiorno will be driving 20-1 longshot Make Or Miss out of post three in the first elimination.
- 2016 Hambletonian broadcast live on CBS Sports Network (Friday, August 05, 2016)
CBS Sports Network will present a 90-minute telecast of the $1 million Hambletonian, presented by Mullinax Ford, live from The Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday (Aug. 6) from 4-5:30 p.m. (EDT). The Hambletonian is the first leg of the Trotting Triple Crown.
- Hatfield on Hambletonian: ‘There’s nothing that compares to this’ (Friday, August 05, 2016)
Bud Hatfield fell in love with Bar Hopping the moment he saw the colt as a yearling at the 2014 Standardbred Horse Sale. His affection for the horse remains high, and why not? For the first time in four decades in harness racing, Hatfield is sending a horse to the Hambletonian. And the horse is Bar Hopping. Bar Hopping is the 9-5 favorite in the first of two nine-horse eliminations of the Hambletonian, presented by Mullinax Ford, Saturday at the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey.