East Rutherford, NJ (My Sportsbook) - Champion colt Lucky Chucky will start from post two in Saturday's 85th running of the $1.5 million Hambletonian at The Meadowlands. The one-mile trot is harness racing's premier event.
The Hambletonian is the second leg of trotting's Triple Crown and will have a field of 10 three-year-old trotters. Lucky Chucky, Cassis and Pilgrims Taj each won an elimination race last week.
Lucky Chucky, trained by Chuck Sylvester, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite and will be driven by Hall of Fame member John Campbell. Campbell has won the Hambletonian six previous times, most recently in 2006 with Triple Crown champ Glidemaster.
Co-owned by Sylvester, Lucky Chucky was voted the Dan Patch Award as 2009 champion two-year-old trotting male. Last year he won nine of 12 starts for $667,649. In three starts this year Lucky Chucky has one win and a second for $73,972.
"I like our chances," Sylvester indicated. "He's the first serious contender I've had in a few years."
Sylvester has won the Hambletonian four times -- one shy of the training record shared by Bill Haughton, Stanley Dancer and Ben White. Sylvester and Campbell teamed to win the 1998 Hambletonian with Muscles Yankee and the 1987 edition with Mack Lobell. Sylvester's other victories came with Chip Chip Hooray in 2002 and Park Avenue Joe (in a dead heat with Probe) in 1989.
The first leg of the Triple Crown, the Yonkers Trot, was won by On The Tab.
The final leg is the Kentucky Futurity, which will be held on October 16 at The Red Mile. There have been nine Triple Crown winning trotters, the last being Glidemaster in 2006.
Here is the full field for the Hambletonian in post position order: Cassis, Tim Tetrick, 7-2; Lucky Chucky, John Campbell, 5-2; Pilgrims Taj, Mike Lachance, 9-2; Mystery Photo, Andy Miller, 10-1; Wishing Stone, George Brennan, 12-1; Muscle Massive, Ron Pierce, 8-1; On The Tab, Daniel Dube, 15-1; Hard Livin, Yannick Gingras, 15-1; Temple Of Doom, David Miller, 15-1 and Holiday Road, Brian Sears, 6-1.
The Hambletonian will be televised on NBC and has a scheduled post-time of 3:43 p.m. (et).
