2011 HAMBLETONIAN NEWS $1.5 Million Hambletonian – August 6 2011 HAMBLETONIAN DAY AT A GLANCE SATURDAY, AUGUST 6 Post time: 11:30 a.m.; Gates open: 9:30 a.m. $1,500,000 million Hambletonian [3yoct] – Race 9 - Post time: 3:43 p.m. $750,000 Hambletonian Oaks [3yoft] – Race 8 - Post time: 3:09 p.m. Web site: TheHambletonian.com and MeadowlandsRacetrack.com NBC Broadcast – 3 to 4 p.m. -- The $1.5 million Hambletonian, and its companion event, the Hambletonian Oaks for fillies, will be broadcast live on NBC Sports. The Hambletonian remains the only harness race to be nationally televised by one of the four major networks. Live broadcasts: WFAN 66 AM, hosted by Marc Malusis, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Sirius-XM Radio Channel 209 – 3 – 4:30 p.m. Special Wagering Options: $150,000 guaranteed Pick 4 pool - races 6-9; $50,000 guaranteed Pacing Pick 4 (races TBA); $50,000 guaranteed Pick 5 pool - races 9-13; $200,000 guaranteed trifecta pool on the Hambletonian - race 9; full card dime superfectas. Music: Bitter, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Paddock Park Parade: On-track parade at 10:10 a.m., featuring horses of all different breeds, last year’s Hambletonian winners and the Big Apple Corps Marching Band. Giveaways: All paid admissions receive a free 2011 commemorative Hambletonian baseball cap. Children receive a Hambletonian water bottle (both while supply lasts). Family Fun: Clydesdale pony rides, carnival games, amusement rides, giant slide, rock wall, face painting and more! Supporting Stakes: Peter Haughton Memorial [2yoct], Lady Liberty [Mare Pace], Merrie Annabelle [2yoft], Mistletoe Shalee [3yofp], Perretti Farms Matchmaker [Mare Trot], Nat Ray [FFA trot], Oliver Wendell Holmes [3yocp], US Pacing Championship [FFA pace], Vincennes Trot [Invitational] Kings Super Markets Food Drive: Donate a non-perishable food item to the Community Food Bank of NJ and receive free admission and a coupon for a baseball cap. Autograph Session: The stars of harness racing will sign autographs in Paddock Park from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. MEADOWLANDS RACETRACK 50 Route 120, East Rutherford, NJ 07073-2160 www.meadowlandsracetrack.com phone: 201-460-4050 fax: 201-460-4080 2011 HAMBLETONIAN NEWS $1.5 Million Hambletonian – August 6 August 2, 2011 Millers Have ‘Man’ On A Hambletonian Mission Manofmanymissions has just one assignment now – win Saturday’s $1.5 million Hambletonian at Meadowlands Racetrack. Last weekend, Manofmanymissions won his Hambletonian elimination race by one length over Magnum Kosmos in 1:52.4. The colt, trained by Erv Miller and driven by Miller’s brother, Andy, stamped himself as the likely favorite for harness racing’s premier event for 3-year-old trotters. The race will be televised live from 3-4 p.m. EDT on NBC. Erv Miller sent out the 2005 Hambletonian favorite, Classic Photo, who finished second to Vivid Photo. “I think it’s just another week,” said Miller, who was the sport’s Trainer of the Year in 2005. “You do the best you can. I can’t think of any mistake I made in the first one that would have made a difference. “If there’s a difference, it’s the horses. (Classic Photo) was a very nice horse and didn’t have the quirks of Manofmanymissions, but this horse is very fast. This horse, if I get him to where he behaves and gets around there good, I think he’s fast enough to get the job done. The other horse was fast enough, but needed the right trip and for things to work out. I don’t think this one needs the right trip, I think he just needs to be healthy.” Manofmanymissions was hampered earlier this year by an abscess in his left front foot and has had vet work done recently on his ankles. Since then, the colt has won a division of the Stanley Dancer by 6-1/4 lengths in 1:52.1 at the Meadowlands in addition to capturing his Hambletonian elim. “We repeated some of the vet work we’d done a couple weeks ago with him,” Miller said. “The other night I didn’t think he was quite as good and I think his one ankle (right front) was bothering him a little bit. Hopefully we got that straightened out. It seems like we’re getting it figured out. We’d done some work two weeks prior to the Stanley Dancer and he raced very good. So it’s encouraging going forward. I’m thinking it will help him quite a bit. “It’s not that he’s got horrible ankles, but he’s one of those horses that if a little something bothers him it’s enough to get him out of being good.” A change in the horse’s training regimen also seems to have helped. Rather than jog on the racetrack, Miller jogs Manofmanymissions on a grass straightaway at Gaitway Farm. MEADOWLANDS RACETRACK 50 Route 120, East Rutherford, NJ 07073-2160 www.meadowlandsracetrack.com phone: 201-460-4050 fax: 201-460-4080 2011 HAMBLETONIAN NEWS $1.5 Million Hambletonian – August 6 “We just started that about a month and a half ago and he really enjoys it,” Miller said. “It’s two straightaways in the grass, one uphill and one downhill, and he seems to enjoy it. He’s got a good attitude. He’s happier to do that than be on the racetrack every day.” Last year, Manofmanymissions won four of six races and earned $432,900. His wins included the Breeders Crown, in a world-record 1:53.2 mile, and a division of the International Stallion Stakes. This year, the colt has won three of five races and earned $134,500 for owners Manofmanymissions Stable, Mystical Marker Farms and Maurizio Biasuzzi Stable. In his career, Manofmanymissions has won seven of 11 races and earned $567,400. Dennis Lakomy, who along with his son Kevin makes up Mystical Marker Farms, was one of the owners of Classic Photo. He also finished fifth in the 2000 Hambletonian with Dreamaster. “This is the third time, and I hope the third time will be a charm,” Lakomy said. “If he comes with his ‘A’ game, he’s going to be very difficult to beat. He can race on the front end, he can race from behind, he’s got a lot of speed; he just has his little quirks where sometimes he doesn’t fire.” The emotions leading up to the race are “part of the excitement of the game,” he added. “I’m just enjoying the moment. Just to be at the dance is a big deal. If for some reason the racing gods look favorably upon us and we can see (Manofmanymissions) under the wire first, we’ll be in good shape.” Andy Miller is driving in his fourth Hambletonian final, but first for his brother. He finished sixth with Mystery Photo last year, fourth with The Chancellor in 2009 and ninth with Xactly Hanover in 2007. Mystery Photo and The Chancellor were both trained by his wife, Julie. “It’s special to have my brother driving,” Erv Miller said. “It’s always been a dream of ours to do it together rather than just one of us getting there. It’s a lot more fun. It means a lot to me.” MEADOWLANDS RACETRACK 50 Route 120, East Rutherford, NJ 07073-2160 www.meadowlandsracetrack.com phone: 201-460-4050 fax: 201-460-4080 2011 HAMBLETONIAN NEWS $1.5 Million Hambletonian – August 6 August 2, 2011 Broad Bahn Looking for Quickest Route To Victory Lane While his owner and family managed to travel the longest distance to reach the Hambletonian, trainer Noel Daley hopes his sophomore trotter Broad Bahn is prepared to take the shortest route to the winner’s circle in this year’s edition of trotting’s most prestigious prize. Owner Leif Alber, his wife and three children elected to forgo conventional means traveling from their native Denmark to the metropolitan New York area for the sport’s biggest race. Instead, Alber and company hopped a plane from Copenhagen to Los Angeles where they rented an auto and embarked on a cross-country journey, through places like Las Vegas and Memphis (two homes of Elvis Presley). Then they turned north hitting the nation’s capital before making it to the Meadowlands winner’s circle in the Hambletonian eliminations. Broad Bahn made the lead before the quarter and held off a late charge by Chapter Seven to win his Hambletonian elimination by three-quarters of a length in 1:53. “Mr. Alber loves to drive,” said his business manager Ole Bach. “This was his chance to see the country in a different way with his family.” For Bach, who along with Alber selected Broad Bahn from the Standardbred Horse Sale’s auction in 2009, there is much reason for enthusiasm heading into Saturday’s final. After a promising two-year-old campaign ended one-race too soon, Broad Bahn, already a big horse, has come back stronger in 2011. “Mr. Alber loves to look at the videos of the yearlings,” said Bach, “He goes through the book and then sends me his information before I go to the sales.” Once Bach is at the sales he must approve the conformation before any bidding takes place. “With Broad Bahn he was a very big yearling and on the video he showed an enormous stride. Mr. Alber really liked that,” recalled Bach. “Because Broadway Hall (Broad Bahn’s sire) isn’t syndicated he doesn’t get the greatest book of mares.