Lucky Chucky, last season’s champion 2-year-old trotter, is the 5-2 favorite in the $1.5 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands Racetrack on Saturday.

The Hambo will be carried live on NBC from 3 to 4 p.m. Scheduled post time for the race is 3:43 p.m.

A winner in 10 of 15 races, Lucky Chucky will leave from post 2 for a pair of harness Hall of Famers, driver John Campbell and trainer Chuck Sylvester.

Campbell has won the Hambletonian a record six times, while Sylvester has four wins – one victory shy of the mark shared by Bill Haughton, Stanley Dancer, and Ben White.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Neither rain nor a slight misstep midway through the race could keep Divine Fortune from his destiny on Thursday, as he wore down favored Slip Away and then held off stablemate Arcadius to take the Grade 2, $75,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase Stakes to begin a soggy day at Saratoga.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Tomica’s Spirit and Sopchoppy give trainer Tim Kelly two contenders Saturday in the $100,000 Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park.

The Colleen is the prep for the meet’s last major event for 2-year-old fillies, the Sorority on Labor Day.

Kelly plans to run both in the Colleen, and the Daniel Ljoka-owned duo will be uncoupled in the wagering.

Of the two, Tomica’s Spirit has a slight experience edge, with three races to her credit, one more than Sopchoppy.

ALTOONA, Iowa – The seven Iowa-bred stakes that comprise Saturday’s Iowa Classics card mark the close of the Prairie Meadows Thoroughbred meet. The track will reopen with Quarter Horse racing on Aug. 13

The $85,000 Donna Reed for older fillies and mares at a mile and 70 yards is the most competitive race on the card. Leading trainer Lynn Chleborad will send out the triple threat of Passion Talk, Friend O the Devil, and Courtney J in the 12-horse field.

Friend O the Devil returns off a neck loss to LD’s Shes Special in a one-mile statebred allowance on July 19.

Six days after being at Monmouth Park to send out Lookin At Lucky to win the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational, trainer Bob Baffert will be staying home at Del Mar when his stable goes after another rich stakes for 3-year-olds back East.

Baffert will have Concord Point as the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby, the annual showcase event at Mountaineer Racetrack in Chester, W.Va. Nine 3-year-olds are entered in the 1 1/8-mile race, with Exhi, Skipshot, and Thiskyhasnolimit being the top challengers to Concord Point.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sharp Secretary has come a long way since she was a mere $1,100 yearling purchase, and she should be a player in Saturday’s $150,000 Duchess Stakes at Woodbine.

The seven-furlong Duchess has attracted a hodgepodge of 3-year-old fillies, including the shippers Derwin’s Star, Red Hot Buddha, Simply Spiteful, and Manx Miss.

Beijing House and Remarkable Storm, two horses who have made the most of their limited opporutnities racing at Finger Lakes, will see if their familiarity with the local surface is enough of an advantage over talented Saratoga shipper Ruffino in Saturday’s $50,000 Genesee Valley Breeders’ Stakes.

The 1 1/16-mile Genesee Valley, restricted to New York-breds, drew a field of nine, including a coupled entry for trainer Luis Gonzalez.

Trainer Jim Meyaard wasn’t exactly happy with the 126 pounds assigned to Salt Flat Speed for the $50,000 Westerner Handicap at Northlands Park on Saturday. Nonetheless, Meyaard was confident Salt Flat Speed would be able the handle the heavy impost when he runs in the 1 1/16-mile feature that drew seven horses and goes as race 7.

“When he works, he carries 140 to 145 pounds, so it shouldn’t slow him down too much,” Meyaard said.

Son of a Bear may be the best 3-year-old male on the grounds at Charles Town. But is he faster than the 3-year-old filly I Just Did It?

The answer should be revealed when I Just Did It challenges males for the first time in Saturday night’s $50,000 Robert Levitt Stakes. The seven-furlong race for West Virginia-bred 3-year-olds is the first local prep for horses on the road to the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic program on Oct. 16.

The Levitt is a stepping-stone to the seven-furlong West Virginia Lottery.

AUBURN, Wash. – Davos, a talented but star-crossed 5-year-old, is the horse to beat Saturday in the feature race at Emerald Downs.

The card begins at 2 p.m. Pacific, and the feature, a second-level optional $50,000 claimer for older horses at a mile, is the eighth of nine races.