Hambletonian Casino Event Gets Late Prize Donations

Some late entries have been made to the $10,000+ prize list for Casino Night at The Meadowlands on Friday, August 3, and they include a magnum of fine wine from the collection of Communicator's Hall of Famer Murray Brown, a work of art by Standardbred owner Howard Schoor, 32" TV and five works of equine art, two of them featuring Dan Patch.

Tickets are still available for $50 and include open bar, dinner and dessert and $25 in chips to play casino games and win chips, to be traded in for tickets in a "Chinese auction" style for dozens of prizes. Poker aces can play for $125 a seat in the tournament and a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas. Tickets can also be purchased at the door of the event, which will be held in the second floor Gallery at the track. The event benefits the Harness Racing Museum and the Standardbred Retirement Foundation (SRF).

Tickets can be ordered here or for more information, contact John Mayo, operations@harnessmuseum.com or by phone at the Museum, 845-294-6330; or Tammy Calliau, srfhorsesandkids@gmail.com or call 609-738-3255.

The additional items are:

-Magnum of 1995 Flora Spring Hillside Reserve. This California meritage, with the majority cabernet, in a bottle twice the size of a usual wine bottle (ten full pours), was made the year that Tagliabue won the Hambletonian. It's described by the maker as, "…absolutely delicious with ripe, luscious fruit that wraps around the tannins. It is a seductive wine with vibrant aromas and flavors of jammy blackberries, spice, black currants, vanilla and black licorice." Donated by Murray Brown.

-A Trianglist print by Standardbred owner Howard Schoor, #16 of 100. His Trianglist works embody inescapable purity and the art is unsullied, clean, bold and crisp. Donated by Howard Schoor. This item will be in a separate silent auction.

30" x 40" canvas photographic print of a Standardbred foal at sunset, by Gunjan Patel of Hanover Shoe Farm and donated by her.

-Sceptre 32" HDMI, 720p LED TV. It is wall mount ready and has a USB port and built tuner.

-Framed and double matted print of, "Dan Patch The Fastest Harness Horse The World Has Ever Seen." Donated from the collection of Tom Charters, former president of the Hambletonian Society, this work is 33.5" x 27.5" inches and features Dan and trainer/driver Myron McHenry in full stride, with competitors in vain pursuit. Dan Patch was an undefeated pacer who raced across America after the turn of the last century. His dominance was such that owners refused to enter their horses against him, so he raced against the clock and was the first horse to hit the 1:55 time for the mile.

-Framed head shot print of Dan Patch, circa 1905 – 1920. Size is 15' x 19" and features Dan in a white halter with notation, "Dan Patch 1:55," at the bottom of the image. This is one of dozens of promotional posters that Dan's owner distributed to promote his horse. Circa 1906. Donated by Tom Charters.

-Framed and double matted poster (25" x 19") promoting the Prix D'Amerique, the French spectacle of harness racing and pageantry that takes place in January each year. The image is an impressionistic representation of the race from a head-on vantage point. The event attracts the very best trotters from all over the world and this poster is signed by Jean-Etienne DuBois, who drove Coktail Jet to win the 1996 Prix D'Amerique. Donated by Tom Charters.

-Framed print, with a hunter green mat, of a trotter pulling a high wheel sulky in full stride, driver attired in solid maroon silks, with the descriptor, "The Trotting Horse Axtell, Interunnina Record 2:19." There is a small mark of P.V.1 in the corner. Donated by Tom Charters and Janet Terhune.

From the Standardbred Retirement Foundation