A little more than a year ago, Ramona Hill became the fourth female trotter to win the Hambletonian Stakes since it moved to The Meadowlands Racetrack in 1981. On Saturday (July 17), she will return to The Big M to try to add the E.T. Gerry Jr. Hambletonian Maturity to her list of accomplishments.
Since the modern version of the Hambletonian Maturity was created in 2014, only one horse has won both races: Marion Marauder. Ramona Hill will face 11 rivals in Saturday’s edition, leaving from post four with driver Andy McCarthy at the lines for trainer Tony Alagna. The event, for four-year-old trotters, will be contested at 1-1/8 miles.
Ontario-sired pacing colt Tall Dark Stranger was named the 2020 U.S. Horse of the Year as part of the Dan Patch Annual Awards Banquet held virtually on Saturday (Jan. 16).
The United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA), the leading media organization in North American harness racing, has announced the winners of its Dan Patch Awards balloting for excellence exhibited among both equines and humans. The “best of the best” are normally honoured at the writers’ Dan Patch Annual Awards Banquet, but that event was cancelled this year due to the ongoing health crisis, so a special Virtual Awards show was broadcast Saturday.