Filly Atlanta to chase historic victory in US$1-million Hambletonian

Atlanta will chase trotting history Saturday in the US$1-million Hambletonian Stakes from a familiar spot.

The unbeaten filly drew the No. 7 spot Tuesday in the nine-horse field for the opening $100,000 first-heat elimination race at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. Trainer Rick Zeron, of Oakville, Ont., who’s also a part-owner, wasn’t deterred with the outside spot.

“No, because she’s drawn the outside in the races she’s been involved in the last couple of times,” he said.

Zeron also co-owns Atlanta with partners Crawford Farms of Oakville, Holland Racing Stable of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., American Howard Taylor and Brad Grant of Milton, Ont.

Atlanta, a five-time winner this season with nine career victories and $313,309 in earnings, will be the lone filly in the two elimination races. The daughter of Chapter Seven is attempting to become the Hambletonian’s first female champion since Continentalvictory accomplished the feat in 1996.

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Zeron’s son, Scott, will drive Atlanta on Saturday. Scott Zeron won this event in 2016 with Marion Marauder.

“I have a horse I think can win the Hambletonian, that’s exciting,” Scott Zeron said. “My dad wanted to be in first heat, so we got lucky with that.”

But victory won’t come easily as among the horses vying for this year’s crown are Six Pack and Wolfgang.

Six Pack holds the title of world’s fastest three-year-old male trotter after posting a 1:50 win in a division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial on July 14 at the Meadowlands. He has captured five-of-six races this year and nine-of-14 overall for earnings of $557,840.

Wolfgang is unbeaten in three races this year and has won six-of-13 career starts and earned $516,690 overall.

Atlanta will have to qualify for the final to square off against Six Pack but Wolfgang drew the No. 5 position in the first elimination race and is the early  5/2 favourite, Atlanta is the 3/1 second choice.

Six Pack is the 2/1 favourite for the second elimination.

“Scott and I talked it over and Wolfgang and Six Pack are two horses we’re concerned about racing against,” Rick Zeron said. “But as far as I’m concerned we’re going into the race spot on.

“She’s absolutely perfect through the No. 7 hole. She’s as strong as an ox right now and we’re just looking for big things from her Saturday.”

Atlanta will have to race twice Saturday to win the Hambletonian. The top-five finishers in each elimination qualify for the final later Saturday night.

But that doesn’t concern Rick Zeron because the filly has always been able to recover quickly. In fact, that’s a big reason why the Zerons opted to race her in the Hambletonian rather than the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks for fillies.

“Fifteen minutes after her race she’s back to normal,” Rick Zeron said. “She’s got her wind back and her heart rate has gone down to normal.

“That’s we decided we’d give the Hambletonian a shot. A good horse will always stand out and perform to its ability and when you need it to perform even better it will stand out and perform even better. We’ll just let Atlanta do her thing and let the world see because we’re pretty well assured North America, Europe, everybody around the world is watching her Saturday.”

Atlanta was a $60,000 yearling purchase in November 2016 and it was during training over the winter in Florida that Zeron figured he had something very special.

“I knew she was starting to stand up and be a real creature so I was quite happy with her,” he said. “I told someone in March I wouldn’t be shocked if she went 1:52 or better but I think she can break the 1:50 barrier.”

And Zeron figures it might take that type of effort to win Saturday’s final.

“She’s going to have to, yeah,” he said. “Saturday is going to be the day when she’s going to stand up and be a big girl.”

Rick Zeron enjoyed tremendous success as a driver, registering over 8,119 wins — he has another 2,303 as a trainer, But the Hambletonian is one of the few titles to have escaped him.

Winning his first with a filly would indeed be special but nowhere near as meaningful as doing it with his son.

“Priceless,” he said. “No words could describe it.

“None.”

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: CORRECTS first day of week in para 2.