"HOT" "HOT" HAMBLETONIAN TRAIL!
THE TRAIL IS SO HOT THAT I AM ALREADY HAVING A HAMBLETONIAN FEVER!
It all started what amounted to a simmering chill the weekend of June 13 (2025) when a Hambletonian prep race took place featuring Maryland versus his up and coming 3yo sensation stable mate Super Chapter -- and now, it turns into a full blown Hambletonian fever.
The symptom?
Here it is:
HARNESS RACING: HAMBLETONIAN IMPLICATION!
MARYLAND VS SUPER CHAPTER
A field of 10 Hambletonian-eligible trotters will go behind the starting gate Friday (June 13, 2025) in the $225,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes championship for 3-year-old male trotters at The Meadowlands.
[Please check out The Meadowlands' entries for the Friday card.]
ENJOY FRIDAY NIGHT OF HARNESS RACING AT THE MEADOWLANDS EVERYBODY!
The lineup includes three of this season's four fastest sophomore boys: Mr Walner Fashion, Mountcastle and Onajetplane.
The morning-line favorite, Mr Walner Fashion at 3-1, heads to the race 2-for-2 this year and is coming off a 1:51 2/5 score in a $25,000 second-round NJSS division June 6 (2025) at The Big M.
The mark is tied for the season's best; Mountcastle also trotted 1:51 2/5 in his NJSS prelim later that same night. Both horses won by a head.
However, on the same day (Friday June 13) my eyes are on Maryland running against his stablemate Super Chapter at Vernon Downs (NY), race 8, in the EMPIRE BREEDERS CLASSIC Three-Year-Old Colts & Geldings.
A small field of five -- it looks to be a two-horse race between Maryland (ML 9-5) and his stablemate Super Chapter (ML 8-5) in what looks like a preview of the Hambletonian Civil War battle.
Super Chapter is the race's favorite (ML 8/5) and he has post position 3, while Maryland is the second choice and he will break from the outside post 5.
Advantage to Super Chapter in this race but he will have to earn it with Maryland in the same race.
Easy exacta!
MY PLAY OF THE NIGHT: HIGHLAND KISMET
Race 12 (The Meadowlands): $50K Graduate 2nd leg for 4YO Trotters
HIGHLAND KISMET has unlimited potential and Nancy Takter has been charged with trying to get the most out of him. The first qualifier two weeks ago seemed to be going along smoothly when he made what looked like a speed break to me -- HIGHLAND KISMET broke strides.
Nancy Takter, his trainer, said she thought maybe the miscue was because his hobbles were too tight.
So for this race I think she plans to correct the hobbles so they will be a little loose.
Bet HIGHLAND KISMET to win, place using double down!
ON THE SAME NIGHT [JUNE 14] AT WOODBINE MOHAWK THERE ARE STAKES RACES AND ONE IN PARTICULAR IS THE $1,000,000 NORTH AMERICA CUP
The Woodbine Mohawk race card is full of good betting races headlined by the North America Cup, race 11, in which, I like the 7/5 morning line favorite Louprint (post 4) in a full field of 10.
It's a $1 million race and a prep for the Meadowlands Pace (July 12) and as such anything can happen in a full field of 12.
Having said that, the likely winner is the 7/5 morning line favorite Louprint.
He is the best horse in the field and likely to go down in odd -- 4/5 or even money is my guess.
Also in the card, race 10, a cinch horse in Chantilly.
Bet Chantilly (ML 1-1) to win and put a lot of money on her because she is going to win this race at a very short price.
This is the easiest money you'll ever going to get on any card for this Saturday June 14, 2025.
Chantilly crowned Canada's Horse of the Year for 2024
Chantilly, the 2-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year (2024) was also named the Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year (2024).
She became just the fifth 2-year-old - and only the third pacing filly - to be named Canada's Horse of the Year, joining the likes of Emilie Cas El, Whenuwishuponastar, Somebeachsomewhere and JK She'salady.
Chantilly, Canada's reigning Horse of the Year, set a career best 1:49.4 mark while easily besting a field of 10 in the lone $140,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Series event for three-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday, May 24 (2025) at Woodbine Mohawk Park. It was the first OSS Gold event of 2025.
Millar Farms' homebred daughter of Big Jim out of Shiraz Seelster, who was sent off at 1/9, is now undefeated through all 11 career starts. It was her second pari-mutuel win of 2025 and pushed her career earnings to $897,756.
Starting from the rail, driver James MacDonald positioned Chantilly fourth in the early going. The pair took the lead with a strong brush before reaching the half in :55. They opened up on the field from there through the three-quarters in 1:21.4 and came home in :28 to win by 4-1/2 lengths over Wickedpace (Jody Jamieson) on a cold, windy night. Perfectly Chic (Bob McClure) was third.
"[Chantilly's] high gear is just something else, MacDonald told Woodbine Mohawk Park's Chad Rozema. "I was able to clear the lead pretty, pretty easily. And then she's just one of those horses -- and I've only driven a few of them in my life -- where you feel like you're absolutely crawling ...
You've got to be careful with her, because she's just got unbelievable speed.
"She's just a special horse. She's passed every test with flying colours. I would have liked to go :52 with the brakes on, but she's got other plans.
Sometimes when you put her in top gear she's just relentless with her speed. Hopefully, she keeps carrying on to bigger and better things.
Whether that means Chantilly will be entered against the boys in the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup or the Fan Hanover for sophomore fillies -- both have their finals on June 14 at Woodbine Mohawk Park -- will be up to her owner George Millar, said Chantilly's trainer Nick Gallucci.
"It's going to be George Millar's call, said Gallucci, indicating she'll get next week off. "We'll just see what happens, and I'm good with whatever decision he makes."
[End of Symptom]
The symptom is going to get worse when the up and coming 3yo sensation Go Dog Go tunes up for the Hambletonian in a race this weekend (June 28, 2025) in the Reynolds Memorial at The Meadowlands against Mr Walner Fashion, Gap Kronos S, and Maximus Mearas S -- all are Hambletonian-bound.
Also this weekend, Super Chapter, a Kentucky champion from 2024 and a stable mate of Maryland, is scheduled to take on just four rivals – Hard Seven, Happy Jack B, Chat Room and Variegated – at Yonkers Raceway on Friday night June 27, 2025.
If you read the "symptom" above you know that Super Chapter was the morning line favorite over his stable mate -- two-year-old champion Maryland -- in the Friday June 13 (2025) race.
If you didn't catch that race, Super Chapter reeled off a 1:50 4/5 Empire Breeders Classic win at Vernon Downs that night over his fancy stable mate Maryland to improve his 2025 record to two-for-two.
In that race Super Chapter went wire to wire in 1:50 4/5, just one-fifth off all-age track record.
Yes, that is right: 1/5 off the track record.
THAT WILL CATCH MY ATTENTION QUICKLY!!!
He did it against last year's (2024) two-year-old champion Maryland while beating his fancy stable mate almost by two lengths with Hard Seven in a further distance third in a small field of five.
SPEAKING OF TRACK RECORD, ANOTHER HAMBLETONIAN-BOUND DID JUST THAT!
Emoticon Legacy absolutely crushed his foes by more than three lengths in the Goodtimes at Woodbine Mohawk Park (June 14, 2025) in a Canadian record 1:50 2/5, a mark he now shares with three older horses – Alrajah One It, Atlanta and Gaines Hanover.
At the end of the mile he was clearly pulling away from a good horse Gap Kronos S (who runs this weekend against Go Dog Go).
Trainer Luc Blais after the Goodtimes win: "I know he has lots of speed. He just has to control his emotions."
Emoticon Legacy is scheduled to run next in the Zweig on July 3 (2025) at Vernon Downs (NY), running against -- who else? -- last year's (2024) two-year-old champion Maryland.
DID I SAY I AM HAVING A FEVER?
OH, BOY! -- DO I EVER?
THE WEEKEND COULDN'T COME SOON ENOUGH!
THE JULY 3RD COULDN'T COME SOON ENOUGH!
THAT IS NOT TO SAY AUGUST 2!
HOW AM I GOING TO SURVIVE UNTIL AUGUST 2?
UNTIL THEN IT IS GOING TO BE A VERY VERY EXTRA EXTRA FULL BLOWN FEVER!
OH, MY!!!
DID I SAY THAT I'M A HORSE RACING JUNKIE?
MEANWHILE THE FEVER RAGES ON!
Also scheduled to join Emoticon Legacy in running against last year's (2024) two-year-old champion Maryland are Monserrate, Hidalgo, and Onajetplane -- all are Hambletonian-bound.
AS I STATED ABOVE THAT ... ANY HORSE ... CAME CLOSE TO OR BREAKING A TRACK RECORD WILL CATCH MY ATTENTION QUICKLY!!!
OH, BOY! -- DOES IT EVER?
Emoticon Legacy absolutely catches my attention big time!
He tied a Canadian track record of 1:50 2/5, a mark he now shares with three older horses -- yes, this 3yo is now in the company of his elders.
That says a lot!
If you follow me all along this past spring about the Kentucky Derby trail, in which, I swore my Derby horse allegiance to Cornucopian [as my Derby horse].
And then, all of a sudden, a horse named American Promise broke a track record winning the Virginia Derby and I quickly switched my Derby horse allegiance prospect from Cornucopian to American Promise.
The same thing happens here: I just switched my Hambletonian horse allegiance prospect from Maryland to Emoticon Legacy after he tied the Canadian track record of 1:50 2/5.
IT'S A NO-BRAINER!!!
So from now on, I swear my Hambletonian horse allegiance prospect to Emoticon Legacy.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: July 3 (2025) at Vernon Downs (NY).
I CAN'T WAIT!!!
MEANWHILE, ENJOY FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY NIGHT OF HARNESS RACING THIS WEEKEND, EVERYBODY!
