Karl draws rail, made favorite in $1 million Hambletonian

Cream Ridge, NJ — Elimination winner Karl (Tactical Landing-Avalicious) drew post one for Saturday’s $1.05 million Hambletonian Stakes final at The Meadowlands and was made the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the 99th edition of the sport’s premier harness racing event for 3-year-old trotters.

T C I (Cantab Hall-Nicoles Promise), who won the second of last week’s two Hambletonian eliminations, drew post four and was made the 5-2 second choice. The event’s draw and press conference were held Tuesday at Hogan Equine. The two elimination winners drew for posts one through five followed by the remaining finalists in an open draw.

The Hambletonian will be only the third meeting between Karl and T C I, and the first since Karl’s victory in the Breeders Crown in late October at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. T C I, who finished second in the Breeders Crown, defeated Karl in a division of the International Stallion Stakes three weeks earlier at Lexington’s Red Mile.

Karl’s nose loss to T C I was his lone defeat in 10 starts last year. He earned $1.04 million and received the Dan Patch Award for best 2-year-old male trotter. T C I won 10 of 12 races and earned $1.23 million to become the richest 2-year-old male trotter in history. He received the O’Brien Award for best freshman male trotter to race in Canada, where his triumphs included the Mohawk Million.

This year, Karl has won five of six races and earned $232,839 for driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Nancy Takter. He finished third in a division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial on July 13 at The Meadowlands but rebounded to win his Hambletonian elimination by 1-1/4 lengths over Bella’s Musclehill in a career-best 1:50.3.

“I think everybody was a little hard on him,” Takter said after the elimination, referring to the reaction to Karl’s loss two weeks earlier. “He had a really tough trip and he’d raced one time in six weeks, so he definitely needed that race. Obviously, we didn’t want to lose, but it happens. They’re horses, they’re not machines.

“I think he’s going to be peaking at the right time. He only had one start in six weeks (prior to the Dancer), which was a little bit by design because we can’t over-race horses and it’s a long season. You kind of want to peak them for certain races, and this is definitely the race that we No. 1 wanted to peak for. You’re building like a mountain, and you just want to build a good foundation and hopefully we get to the top next week.”

Takter, who won the Hambletonian last year with Tactical Approach, is bidding to become the first trainer to win the race in back-to-back years since her father, Jimmy, in 2014 with Trixton and 2015 with Pinkman. The only other trainer to pull off consecutive victories since the Hambletonian moved to The Meadowlands in 1981 was Per Eriksson in 1991-92.

“I think that would be pretty cool,” Takter said about the possibility of winning again and duplicating the accomplishment of her father, who is a Hall of Famer in the U.S., Canada and Sweden. “I’ve always tried to fill his shoes, which hasn’t always been easy, so if we can get it done, that would be great.”

Karl, bred by Crawford Farms, is owned by Christina and Nancy Takter, Black Horse Racing, Crawford Farms Racing, and Bender Sweden.

T C I won his elimination by a neck over Private Access in a career-best 1:50.4. The victory snapped a two-race skid after the colt had won his first three races of the season. For the year, he has earned $179,637 for driver David Miller and trainer Ron Burke.

“It’s going to be a great matchup and a great race as always,” Miller said after T C I’s victory, referring to the highly anticipated meeting with Karl. “I’m very excited too.”

Burke, Miller, and Gingras are each seeking a first Hambletonian trophy.

Sig Sauer (Muscle Hill-Sigilwig), who won a Dancer division on July 13 and finished third in the Hambletonian elimination won by Karl, is the 4-1 third choice on the morning line. He will leave from post eight with Andy McCarthy driving for trainer Noel Daley.

McCarthy won the Hambletonian in 2020 with the filly Ramona Hill. Daley won the Hambletonian in 2011 with Broad Bahn.

The Hambletonian will be race 12 with a post time of 4:45 p.m. (EDT). The companion $525,000 Hambletonian Oaks is race 14 and will go at 6:06 p.m. Racing will begin at noon. For free program pages, visit The Meadowlands website.

Following is the field for Saturday’s $1.05 million Hambletonian in post-position order with drivers, trainers and morning-line odds.

Race 12 – Post time 4:45 p.m. (EDT)

PP – Horse – Sire – Driver – Trainer – Odds

1 – Karl (Tactical Landing) – Yannick Gingras – Nancy Takter – 6-5

2 – Mars Hill (Muscle Hill) – Todd McCarthy – Tony Alagna – 20-1

3 – Highland Kismet (Father Patrick) – Bob McClure – Mark Etsell – 5-1

4 – T C I (Cantab Hall) – David Miller – Ron Burke – 5-2

5 – Security Protected (Father Patrick) – Tim Tetrick – Marcus Melander – 20-1

6 – Bella’s Musclehill (Muscle Hill) – Scott Zeron – Nifty Norman – 15-1

7 – Secret Agent Man (Chapter Seven) – Andy Miller – Julie Miller – 12-1

8 – Sig Sauer (Muscle Hill) – Andrew McCarthy – Noel Daley – 4-1

9 – Private Access (Muscle Hill) – James MacDonald – Luc Blais – 10-1

10 – Amazing Catch (Walner) – Dexter Dunn – Ake Svanstedt – 20-1

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA