Meadowlands: Harris sends power trio to the track for Hambo Day undercard

Trainer Andrew Harris won't be putting the equipment on any horses in the Grade 1 Hambletonian or Grade 1 Oaks, but he has a strong group of contenders in three other Graded stakes on a noon Meadowlands program with over $3.4 million in purses.

Harris' day kicks off in the $310,750 Grade 2 Cane Pace for 3-year-olds, race three on the 16-race card, with his stable star Brandon Blvd. The son of Downbytheseaside has been nearly perfect in 2026 with five wins and two seconds in seven starts, including a current three-race winning streak with a pair of 1:47 3/5 victories following three-week breaks in the mix.

"He's like a Thoroughbred. He loves to come off the bench," said Harris on Brandon Blvd's racing schedule, while adding that coming back on a seven-day pattern will be no issue. "He did three weeks in-a-row in Canada and it didn't bother him."

The Cane Pace is a rematch of sorts as Bradon Blvd hooks up against Odds On Mr Mamba for the first time since he finished second to the Melanie Wrenn trainee in the Grade 1 North America Cup on June 13. Harris feels the five-horse Cane provides a true test of who is best between not just those two but the entire field.

"It's the most even playing field for both horses," said Harris about the field size. "It's Hambletonian Day. There is not going to be any slow-paced races. It will be 90 degrees at 12:30 or so when they race and these guys will start rolling. Once you start horses like that, they keep going. Everybody in there believes they have a shot because there's no traffic to get in the way."

Brandon Blvd starts from post two with Dexter Dunn in the bike while Odds On Mr Mamba has the five-hole with James MacDonald. The rest of the field from the inside out includes Captain Underhand, Gentleman's Club and Sweet Lovin Lou.

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

Last year's Dan Patch winner as the top 3-year-old trotting filly has seen mixed results thus far in 2026, but Harris feels Yo Tillie is finally ready to reclaim her seat at the top of her division following a 1:51 victory in the Miss Versatility on August 1 at the Meadowlands.

"There's no doubt with a mare like that, when you get them beat a couple times because they're not completely healthy, it affects them like mentally. And this week she's back to acting like she's the queen," said Harris, who added that the mare kept going into heat and when she wasn't she was tying up. "It was just this horrible six-week stretch where it was like nothing we did could get her out of heat."

Yo Tillie is lined up perfectly in post five for the $183,650 Grade 2 John R. Steele Memorial (race 10) with regular driver Todd McCarthy behind the lines. She is the 3-1 morning-line favorite.

The day ends for Harris in race 14 when he'll send out 4-1 third choice Unreasonable from post four in the $156,500 Grade 2 Lady Liberty for older pacing mares versus former Horse of the Year Twin B Joe Fresh (post seven) and Dan Patch-winning stablemate Miki And Minnie (post two).

"I love my mare. That said, Twin B Joe Fresh is the Queen of the division and she deserves all the respect in the world and Miki And Minnie is probably next in line," admitted Harris. "I don't know if we can beat them, but we'll make our presence felt."

Harris is a fan of harness racing at heart and said he is looking forward to not only his horses but the Hambletonian and supporting races.

"I'm excited because I think that there's a lot of races with a lot of unknowns, so it should actually be good racing," concluded Harris.