Award-winning Ariana G will take a step toward trying to follow in her older sister’s hoof prints when she competes in the first of Saturday’s two eliminations of the Hambletonian Oaks at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

The Hambletonian Oaks, for three-year-old female trotters, attracted 18 horses. The field was divided into a pair of $40,438 eliminations, each of which will feature fields of nine. The top five finishers from each division will advance to the $500,000 final, which will be contested on August 5 at the ‘Big M.’

Ariana G’s full sister, All The Time, won last year’s Hambletonian Oaks. Full sisters have never won the Hambletonian Oaks, let alone accomplished the feat in back-to-back years.

The only daughters of the same dam to win the Oaks were three-quarter sisters Maritas Victory and Passionate Glide, who did it six years apart. Maritas Victory (by stallion Valley Victory) won the 2000 Hambletonian Oaks and Passionate Glide (by Yankee Glide) won in 2006. Both were out of the mare Miss Marita.

Ariana G, who has won 13 of 16 career races and finished worse than third only once, is trained by Jimmy Takter and owned by Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld. The connections considered racing Ariana G in the $1 million Hambletonian against male rivals, but opted for the Oaks.

“It was really Jimmy’s decision and both of us are very supportive of the decision,” Katz said. “When you consider all the factors, it’s clearly the right decision. The Oaks is as prestigious a race as there is for trotting fillies. We’re comfortable that she’s demonstrated that she’s capable of racing with the colts at this point. We’ll save that discussion for perhaps another day.”

Ariana G, pictured victorious at the Meadowlands Racetrack with Yannick Gingras (Photo courtesy Mark Hall / USTA)

Ariana G, a daughter of stallion Muscle Hill out of the mare Cantab It All, beat male rivals in an elimination of the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial and finished third from Post 8 in the final on July 1 for her only setback in five starts this season. She heads to her Hambletonian Oaks elimination off a 1:51.4 win in her division of the Delvin Miller Memorial for three-year-old female trotters on July 15 at the Meadowlands.

She is the fastest three-year-old female trotter this season, with a mark of 1:51.1, and second-fastest three-year-old trotter overall, behind only colt Walner – the Hambletonian favourite – at 1:50.2.

Ariana G’s Oaks elimination also includes Glitzey Gal, Ice Attraction, Dream Together, Fine Tuned Lady, Dream Baby Dream, Treviso, Cool Cates, and Sunshine Delight. Glitzey Gal is the second-fastest three-year-old female trotter of the season, with a mark of 1:51.2, while Fine Tuned Lady and Dream Baby Dream also are among the top eight. Treviso is unbeaten in five races this year, all on the Pennsylvania circuit.

The second elimination includes Ontario standout Magic Presto, Miller Memorial division winner Overdraft Volo and Tompkins-Geers Stakes winner Feed Your Head. The remainder of the field is Hillarmbro, Thats All Moni, Southwind Avanti, Caviart Wonder, Broadway Idole, and Evelyn.

“The Oaks is a great race, a great venue, and it deserves all the acclaim it should get,” Katz said. “The winners of that race are a who’s-who of trotting fillies. There’s a tremendous amount of luster to it all. We’re looking forward to it.”

Takter, who trains Thats All Moni and Feed Your Head in addition to Ariana G, shares the record of six Hambletonian Oaks training wins with Jan Johnson and has won the last three editions of the race. Katz and Libfeld, who bred Ariana G, have three Hambletonian Oaks trophies, one shy of the owner record held by Castleton Farm.

Yannick Gingras, who drives Ariana G, has teamed with Takter on the three most recent Oaks victories. Gingras is tied with Glen Garnsey and Ron Pierce for the second-most wins in the event, trailing only Berndt Lindstedt’s four.

Elimination winners will draw for inside Posts 1-5. All other finalists will be placed in an open draw. Post positions for the $500,000 final will be drawn and morning lines assigned on Tuesday, Aug. 1, during a ‘Facebook live’ event at 2 p.m. on the Meadowlands Facebook page. The draw will be streamed live on the Meadowlands website.

The results of the post position draws for the eliminations appear below.

(Post – Horse – Trainer – Listed Driver)
1 – Hillarmbro – Trond Smedshammer – Trond Smedshammer
2 – Magic Presto – Richard Norman – Brian Sears
3 – Thats All Moni – Jimmy Takter – Tim Tetrick
4 – Southwind Avanti – Anette Lorentzon – Tim Tetrick
5 – Overdraft Volo – Julie Miller – Andy Miller
6 – Caviart Wonder – Noel Daley – Andrew McCarthy
7 – Feed Your Head – Jimmy Takter – Yannick Gingras
8 – Broadway Idole – Jim Campbell – Scott Zeron
9 – Evelyn – Ake Svanstedt – Ake Svanstedt

(Post – Horse – Trainer – Listed Driver)
1 – Glitzey Gal – Richard Norman – David Miller
2 – Ice Attraction – Ake Svanstedt – Ake Svanstedt
3 – Dream Together – Luc Blais – Dan Dube
4 – Ariana G – Jimmy Takter – Yannick Gingras
5 – Fine Tuned Lady – John Butenschoen – Corey Callahan
6 – Dream Baby Dream – Rod Allen – Rod Allen
7 – Treviso – Charlie Norris – Charlie Norris
8 – Cool Cates – Noel Daley – Andrew McCarthy
9 – Sunshine Delight – Staffan Lind – Brett Miller

This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.