When Is The Hambletonian 2019
EAST RUTHERFORD — “So, you ready?”
This is the question posed to me by Ken Warkentin, the silky-voiced announcer at Meadowlands Racetrack and Freehold Raceway who has called, by his account, 200,000 horse races of both the harness and thoroughbred variety all over the world, including in his native Canada.
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By my account, I have called all of zero of them, and I’ve spent about 45 minutes with Warkentin, attempting to learn what it takes to call a race like the Hambletonian, the most prestigious harness race of all, which happens to be coming up on Saturday (his call will be on CBS Sports Network at 4 p.m. ET).
So, no, I’m not ready.
Luckily, I’m standing in front of a monitor in a Meadowlands hallway instead of in Warkentin’s booth a few stories above the track. Nobody, really, is listening.
Yet I’m still nervous all the same. I’ve always been fascinated with race callers because it looks impossible. How do you announce a race when there are so many names to remember — from horse to jockey to trainer to owner — while also keeping an eye on a full field and keeping it creative and exciting? And then how do you do that a dozen or more times in one day, or sometimes 50 races in 36 hours, as Warkentin estimated?
It never looks or sounds easy, and as I learned, it’s actually harder than you expect.
Pre-race
Warkentin grew up in Toronto with dreams of doing hockey play-by-play for his beloved Canadiens despite living in Maple Leafs country. So he figured if he started calling horse races, he might have an in to do hockey. While working toward a degree in broadcasting from Seneca College in Ontario, he began announcing races wherever he could, eventually landing at Flamboro Downs. When his neighbor got a satellite dish to watch races at the Meadowlands, he asked her to tape them on VHS so he could study the legendary voice of Tom Durkin.
He found he had a knack and a passion for the sport, and he put in the work — thousands upon thousands of races — to eventually land at the Meadowlands.
Warkentin handed me a packet he uses for a course when non-pros like myself want to try their hand (voice?) at his job. There’s the obvious: You want to be accurate and you want to speak with clarity. But he also emphasizes style.
“Are you smarmy, slick, cool, nervous?” he asks. “Be yourself. Define your style.”
Then, it’s all about coloring in around the information you’re providing. Yes, a horse is in the lead, but is it going too fast when it’s known for coming from behind? Is it a 99-to-1 longshot that’s shocking the world? How many different words can you use to describe the incredible action in front of you (“Dazzling! Astounding! Amazing!”)?
I decided I would to be on brand and try to crack a few dad jokes with the horse names, which seems easy enough.
(Narrator voice: It was not).
Warkentin also showed me his race program that he marks up and puts on a music stand in front of his window. He gets the proofs of the program days before races and does his research, scrawling driver silks and notes, such as winning streaks horses might be on, records they might set if they win, and so on.
It obviously helps that he knows the sport and can recite facts off the top of his head when he needs to. That’s where I ran into a considerable amount of trouble. Yes, I’ve watched Triple Crown thoroughbred races since I was a kid and got chills every time I heard Dave Johnson scream, “And DOWN the stretch they come!” (Johnson, as it happens, worked at the Meadowlands with Durkin.)
But as you’ll see, the lack of horse racing knowledge hindered me, along with — I don’t know — zero days of race-calling experience.
It’s post time
The monitor Warkentin put me in front of a monitor connected to a database with replays of recent races from tracks around the country. Sadly, he couldn’t give me the full experience he gets every week of calling a live race using binoculars, since races only happen twice a week — Fridays and Saturdays — at the Meadowlands. He would stand with me and point out what to call if I was tripped up, which I was extremely thankful for.
There was one advantage I thought I had: Harness racing is slower than thoroughbreds, and with the standardbreds pulling sulkeys (carts with drivers on them), maybe it wouldn’t be as hard as the 16 or 17 horses running in a pack at the Kentucky Derby. Races like the Hambletonian also start behind a moving gate on a truck, with the horses starting at a jog.
Warkentin pulled up race No. 2 from last Saturday’s action at the Meadowlands, hit “watch replay” and up popped a field of eight, ready to trot and pace.
And they’re off!
The process: Name all the horses in the field as they settle in. Keep an eye on who’s in the lead, but then mention who’s making moves. Then, announce the splits if you can at various points, like the quarter pole, half-mile and three-quarters pole to see what the pace is. Then it’s all about the finish, where Warkentin advised me to mention the top-four finishers for those bettors who put money on a superfecta.
As you could have guessed, it was a disaster. I couldn’t see the numbers on the horses well at all and I had to look at Warkentin’s marked lineup to see which drivers were contending. I missed a racer in back making a move, and Warkentin interrupted my call filled with dead air and lots of “ummmm” by pointing out one standardbred was boxed in. I mis-named horses. I forgot that a 60-to-1 longshot was in contention, something I should have noted. At least I successfully described a “three-wide” situation — that’s three horses side-by-side — as it developed.
The second race he gave me had a shorter field of seven and included a horse named McThriller (who was “McThriller in the night,” of course), Highalator, who was in “high gear,” annd Dealt A Winner, who I mentioned would not be a winner since he was at the back of the pack.
But because I concentrated on the humor, I didn’t talk about the timing during the race or where the horses were on the track.
“The thing you seem to be struggling with is the vernacular,” Warkentin told me. “It’s the back stretch, the far turn, three-eighths to go. That’s something you have to get down over the years and then you don’t think about that.”
He set up a replay of a third race from last week — a race of 3-year-old Fillies (so don’t give the horses male pronouns!) with nine horses. The result? You can watch for yourself below. Although I can’t show you the actual race, all you need to know is Millies Possession and Evident Beauty crossed the line together in a photo finish.
Yes, it’s still really bad. I still struggled to see which horse was which for most of the race. Despite the fact that the fillies weren’t, in fact, going at a “blistering pace” (oops!), I finally felt a little more comfortable as they came down the stretch.
The finish
There’s an X-factor that Warkentin pointed out after our lesson: Gravitas, especially in the face of a sport that isn’t as big as it once was. He remembered the days when there would be five or six days of races per week instead of the two at the Meadowlands now. His thrilling calls, he hopes, are a part of keeping the excitement going.
Although that doesn’t mean you turn the call of each and every race into the greatest moment in sports history, it’s something to keep in the back of your mind when you step to the mic.
“You are the spokesperson for the sport,” he said. “This is it. The sport of harness racing, the Meadowlands is it. That’s pretty big. That’s important.”
by Bob Heyden
Trainer Marcus Melander may not have won the Hambletonian, but he won the most money on the day — $839,947.50 in purses on the day. He won the Jim Doherty, both Hambletonian elims, was second, third and fifth in the Hambletonian final, fourth in the Hambletonian Oaks, fifth in the Cashman, fourth in a Hambletonian elim, and 2-3-4 in the Peter Haughton.
However, it was 13 years since the last time a trainer won both Hambletonian eliminations, but not the final. Trond Smedshammer did it with Here Comes Herbie in 2006 and Mr Pine Chip, but Glidemaster won the final and neither winner in the elimination got any money in the final.
Marcus Melander won his first Hambletonian elim back in 2017 with Enterprise who was third in the final.
This year, Melander’s slate reads:
Greenshoe 1-2
Gimpanzee 4-3
Green Manalishi 1-5
The only U.S-born trainer to make the Hambletonian final was Tony Alagna with Pilot Discretion, who failed to get a check.
The only U.S-born trainer to make the Hambletonian Oaks was Ron Burke, who was eighth with Sonnet Grace.
Zeron U.S.-born trainers were in the 2019 Elitlopp, but of the 88 trotters on the Hambletonian Day card (counting the 10 in the Hambletonian final as separate — 78 trotters and 88 starters), 40 were trained by a conditioner born in Sweden.
The following all participated on the day that a Canadian driver and trainer won both the Hambletonian Oaks and the Hambletonian — Rene and Simon Allard in the Oaks and Luc Blais and Bob McClure in the Hambletonian. Jim Campbell was the Peter Haughton and Cashman winner. Fellow Canadians Yannick Gingras won the Vincennes, Casie Coleman was third with reigning HOY McWicked in the Sam McKee Memorial, Scott Zeron won the Cane Pace. Daniel Dube, John Bax and Benoit Baillargeon were also in action.
In 2018, Don’t Let’em and Green Manalishis S were 1-2 in the Peter Haughton. In the Hambletonian final, Don’t Let’em made a break and finished last and Green Manalishi S was fifth.
Only two horses have won both the Peter Haughton and the Hambletonian in 38 years: Donato Hanover 2006-2007 and Muscle Hill 2008-2009.
The last time a Peter Haughton runner-up won the Hambletonian the following year was Mack Lobell in 1987.
Progeny of Muscle Hill has now won the Hambletonian or the Oaks six times in his first six crops. Muscle Hill-with four winners on Saturday and a 1-2-3 finish in the Jim Doherty, was the only trotting sire to win more than once. Captaintreacherous doubled up on the pacing side. Make it four straight Oaks wins for Muscle Hill. When Dovescry followed Manchego who followed Ariana G who followed All The Time.
There were nine odds-on winners among the 11 winning favorites for the day.
The last four Horses of the Year all went down to defeat on Hambletonian Day:
In 2015, Wiggle It Jiggleit was fourth in the Cane Pace.
In 2016, Always B Miki was fourth in the U.S. Pacing Championship.
In 2017, Hannelore Hanover was fourth in the Steele Memorial.
In 2018, McWicked was second in the Sam McKee Memorial.
The closest margin of the 16 contests was also the most popular one — a neck. Four winners won by that margin: Green Manalishi S in Hambletonian elim, Tall Drink Hanover in the Shady Daisy, Forbidden Trade in the Hambletonian final and Captain Crunch in the Cane Pace.
Six years ago, Kadabra’s daughter Bee A Magician won the Oaks, ran the table on the year (17-for-17) and was voted HOY. That was also the last time a horse has won on Hambletonian Day and was named HOY. This year, Forbidden Trade is a son of Kadabra, who himself was not Hambletonian eligible back in 2002 en route to the division title.
That Forbidden Trade has more wins (12) than Greenshoe has starts (11)?
Ten of the 24 Meadowlands track records were set on a Hambletonian Day card.
Sixteen years after his Hambletonian debut, Brian Sears finished second for the very first time.
Manchego has now won on Hambletonian Day at 2, 3 and 4-with a pair of 1:50 wins in the Oaks then the Steele Memorial. Moni Maker was an incredible 5-for-5 on Hambletonian Day, winning twice in 1996 in the Oaks, then again in the Nat Ray (Cashman) in 1997, 1998 and 2000. She missed in 1999 due to heart trouble. Her 2000 Nat Ray win was her last Meadowlands start and her lifetime mark of 1:52.1.
When Bob McClure, 28, won the Hambletonian, it was the fifth time a driver under 30 to accomplished this. Scott Zeron won at 27 and 29, Tommy Haughton at 25 and Harry Harvey at 29 way back in 1953.
Twenty-seven-year-old trainer Marcus Melander was 2-3-5 in the Hambletonian.
Bob McClure 2019 Forbidden Trade WINNER
When Is The Hambletonian 2019 World Series
Scott Zeron 2016 (first final) Marion Marauder WINNER!
Roger Hammer 2005 Vivid Photo WINNER!
Stefan Melander 2001 Scarlet Knight WINNER!
Eric Ledford 2002 Chip Chip Hooray WINNER!
Trevor Ritchie 2000 Yankee Paco WINNER! (NOTE: He’s the only one on this list to also debut and win his first Meadowlands Pace in 1987 with Frugal Gourmet).
For the third straight year, the Hambletonian winner did not win his/her elimination.
2017 Perfect Spirit was third in his elim.
2018 Atlanta was second in his elim.
2019 Forbidden Trade was third in his elim.
Twice a better than 50-1 shot hit the board during Saturday’s Hambletonian Day card at the Meadowlands:
In the second race, 53-1 shot Mach N Cheese won for driver Simon Allard.
In the 15th race, 94-1 shot Semi Tough was third with Matt Kakaley.