Trainers are always looking for a way to make a horse go faster or perform better under racing conditions. There's a fine line between changing equipment and getting a positive result that at times leads to more tinkering. In a sport that waits until the first Saturday in August in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to define the year's top sophomore trotters, a deadline exists where the tinkering must end and the results tell the story. In the case of Walner Payton, the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday's $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks at the Meadowlands, the adjustments trainer Chris Ryder made a few weeks ago have proven to significantly aid the Walner-sired filly's performance and set her up nicely for what could prove to be a momentous day for her connections. "She was getting better on her own," said Chris Ryder, who will be seeking his first Hambletonian Oaks victory as a trainer. "She was looking around too much and we needed her to be more focused. I put a hood on her with eye cups. She had a Kant-See-Back." The change was made prior to the Hambletonian Oaks elimination races, with Walner Payton testing out her new garb in the Tompkins-Geers stakes on July 22. "Dexter [Dunn] raced her from behind and David Miller got away to a slow first half with Blonde Bombshell and stole the race," said Ryder. "Still, we were very happy with the way she trotted a big final half." A $510,000 Lexington Select yearling purchase of Ken Jacobs from the 2021 sale, Walner Payton earned out as a 2-year-old with $674K banked in a dozen starts where she was first or second on nine occasions. Significantly for her, many of the second-place finishes came at the expense of last year's juvenile champion Special Way, a filly that due to illness has been forced to miss the Hambletonian Oaks. That fact has essentially breathed new life into rivals that ran into the proverbial brick wall when up against her as a freshman. Walner Payton and Dunn went virtually wire-to-wire in one of two $40,000 Hambletonian Oaks eliminations on July 29 at the Meadowlands, repelling the challenge of favorite Railee Something and prevailing in a personal-best 1:51 4/5 clocking. Railee Something's trainer Ron Burke pointed out what he needs to see from his filly this Saturday. "Well, we've got to find a way to be a half-length better," Burke said. For Ryder, who has gained a solid reputation on the pacing front over the last few years with champions Bettor's Wish and Party Girl Hill, capturing a Hambletonian Oaks would be significant. "It would be awesome," said Ryder if he found a way into the winner's circle this Saturday afternoon. "I think it would be great for Ken Jacobs." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter With Ake Svanstedt's Special Way sidelined, the trainer had a significant replacement in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion Bond, a filly by Southwind Frank that had looked unbeatable up to a few weeks ago and then finished off the board for the first time in her 14-race career in last week's Hambletonian Oaks. Yet, with a fifth-place finish Bond will have the opportunity to rebound in the Oaks with a solid draw, landing post three. "I let her go into the first turn and she got fired up and I couldn't stop her," said Svanstedt, who drove Bond in the Oaks trial. "If I pulled her up too much, I would've choked her." Fired up Bond was as she trotted an eye-catching 25 4/5 opening quarter with Svanstedt a passenger from there as Bond cut sizzling fractions only to falter in the homestretch. There had been some sickness in the Svanstedt stable, but the trainer-driver didn't attribute Bond's Oaks elimination performance to that, but at the same time he questioned what version of Bond will show up this Saturday. Prior to her previous two races Bond had won 10 of her first 12 lifetime starts. Heart On Fire had a solid first year on the racetrack for trainer Tony Alagna but had not met expectations this year until her 36-1 upset victory in the Oaks division that included Bond. "To me, it seems like she's starting to get a little more comfortable," said driver Todd McCarthy following her victory last week. "She's been a filly that's been a little bit temperamental, but she's always showed something for me, and I've always really liked her." McCarthy of course is known for posting a major upset, that being guiding Cool Papa Bell to victory in last year's Hambletonian final as the longest-priced winner in the race's history. Heart On Fire drew post two in Saturday's Oaks and will likely get considerably more wagering attention following her career-best 1:51 2/5 victory. Righteous Resolve made her first trip outside of Ontario to compete in last Saturday's (July 29) Oaks elimination and came away with a third-place finish, overcoming post eight for trainer Matt Bax and driver James MacDonald. "I expected a little more at the end off that trip," said Bax following the elimination. "Maybe the travel affected her. We'll try to address those issues." "I thought she raced great," said MacDonald, who was in the sulky behind Righteous Resolve. "I don't know if I've ever seen a first quarter in 25 4/5 on the trot, especially a trotting filly. I asked her to do quite a bit early and she still had a little bit left to fight down the lane." With post four for the final, Righteous Resolve, a winner in nine of her 13 career starts, is a major contender and could battle for post-time favoritism. Trainer Marcus Melander qualified three horses for the Oaks final, but his fillies all drew outside posts, with Kayleigh S (post eight), Secret Volo (post nine) and Heaven Hanover (post 10) on the outside looking in. Secret Volo, second behind Heart On Fire in her elimination, may be the most talented of the three. "She raced good in the elimination," said Melander. "It was a fast first quarter and he [Brian Sears] had to leave a little bit with her. But she finished strongly. She's always right there with them." As for Kayleigh S, a full sister to last year's Hambletonian runner-up Joviality S, a fourth-place finish put her in the final, and though winless in six starts this year, she appears to be trending in the right direction. "It took a couple of starts for us to get her going, but these last two starts at the Meadowlands have been very good," Melander said of Kayleigh S. "She's a little bigger than her sister, so maybe it just took a couple of starts before she got in that form." Rounding out the field for the Hambletonian Oaks are Mambacita (post six) and Instagram Model (post seven). The Hambletonian Oaks is race 10 on Saturday afternoon's 16-race extravaganza at The Meadowlands with first post at noon.