Harness: 2019 Hambletonian Future Wager opens Friday
The 94th Hambletonian Future Wager at the Meadowlands will open its first pool Friday, March 15 at 11:00 a.m. in conjunction with the final payments taken on trotters for the $1 million Hambletonian and $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks.
This will be the first of four pools opened in advance of the race to be held Saturday, August 3 at The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ.
Wagering will be available at racetrack and online sites throughout North America and internationally. Wagering for the first pool will close on Sunday, March 17 at 11:00 p.m. (EDT)
A team of harness racing analysts and handicappers led by Meadowlands announcer Ken Warkentin, whose Road to the Hambletonian annually tracks the leading candidates to the race, selected a group of 14 trotters out of the 199 colts, fillies and geldings that were made eligible to start in the Hambletonian after the final February 15 payment.
The wager will be discussed at length on The Meadowlands weekend simulcast show.
Though fillies have their own division in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks, several have started in the $1 million event for males in recent years, most recently Atlanta, who became just the 14th filly to win a Hambletonian.
The 14 horses assigned odds in the pool will be listed in alphabetical order. The mutuel field, #15, will consist of the remaining horses eligible, including all fillies eligible to the Oaks. There are no supplements permitted to the Hambletonian or Oaks.
The minimum future wager is $1.00 and all future wagers are win wagering only. The winner of each pool will be determined by the official first-place finisher in the 2019 Hambletonian.
The second future pool will open Friday, May 31 at 11:00 a.m. through Sunday, June 2, closing at 11:00 p.m. The third future wager pool will open Friday, July 5 at 11:00 a.m. through Sunday, July 7, and close at 11:00 p.m. The fourth and final pool opens Thursday, August 1, after the entries and elimination heats are sorted, and close at post-time of the first elimination and/or heat of the Hambletonian on Saturday, August 3.
The Hambletonian Future Wager will be set-up in the tote system as one separate event. The event code is MZX.
Past performance lines for the Hambletonian eligible horses will be available free of charge on the Meadowlands website playmeadowlands.com. All rules and updates can be found there and on www.Hambletonian.com.
2019 Hambletonian Future Wagering – Pool #1
HD - Horse - Morning Line Odds
1. CHAPTER FASHION 20-1
2. CHIN CHIN HALL 10-1
3. DONT LET'EM 10-1
4. FORBIDDEN TRADE 15-1
5. FORECAST 20-1
6. GIMPANZEE 4-1
7. GREEN MANALISHI 6-1
8. GREENSHOE 8-1
9. HUDSON RIVER 20-1
10. KINGS COUNTY 20-1
11. OSTERC 20-1
12. PROSPECT HILL 15-1
13. SOUTHWIND AVENGER 10-1
14. SWANDRE THE GIANT 12-1
15. All Other Horses - 8-1
-edited release (Hambletonian Society/Meadowlands)