Big Ranger has established himself as the fresh threat heading into the 2026 Hambletonian this Saturday (Aug. 8) at The Meadowlands. Can he tackle divisional champion Apex and eight other rivals slated to battle for one of harness racing's most prestigous trophies? 

The post positions were drawn for the 101st edition of the Hambletonian Stakes for three-year-old trotters as well as the companion filly event, the 56th Hambletonian Oaks, at a luncheon on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at Chateau Grande in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

The Hambletonian and Oaks eliminations were held last Saturday to determine the starters for those Grade 1 stakes, which will be contested on Saturday, Aug. 8 at The Meadowlands.

Big Ranger is the 2-1 morning line favourite for the $1 million USD Hambletonian, sponsored by Winning Key Farm, and the elimination winner drew post position four for the final. The other elimination winner, Apex, drew post three and was installed as the 5-2 second choice on the morning line. Elimination winners drew for posts one through six followed by the remaining finalists in an open draw. 

Big Ranger, Ohio’s 2025 Horse of the Year, won his Hambletonian elimination by four lengths over It Could Be Worse in 1:50 this past Saturday at The Meadowlands. The son of In Ranger-Big Blue Bird has won 12 of 14 career races and earned $756,892 for the ownership group of Madison Global of Dundee, Ohio. Tim Tetrick will drive Big Ranger for trainer Anette Lorentzon.

The elimination was Big Ranger’s first trip to The Meadowlands and only his third race outside of Ohio.

“It didn’t really surprise me because he’s been doing everything so handy since we got him,” said Lorentzon, who began training Big Ranger in late May after he was previously with Ronnie Gillespie, about his elim. “It’s just a different thing when you’re going to a new track, a mile track and he hasn’t faced these kinds of horses since back in May, so you never know. I had faith in the horse, but everything had to go right, and it did.

“[The final] is a new race, but at least we got [the elimination] over with and he showed what kind of horse he is. I’m very happy.”

Apex, the 2025 Dan Patch Award winner for best two-year-old male trotter, won his Hambletonian elimination by a nose over Endurance in 1:50.4. The son of Walner-Mission Brief has hit the board in 12 of 13 career races, winning nine and earning $1.5 million for owners Jeff Snyder of New York City, New York, S R F Stable of Delray Beach, Florida and Steve Stewart of Paris, Kentucky. He is one of three finalists from the stable of trainer Marcus Melander.

“He hadn’t raced for a while and I was very happy with how he raced and fought Endurance off,” Melander said about Apex, who has three wins and a second in four stakes starts this year. “Our goal was to keep him in top [shape] and prepare him for the final. I’m happy with how he’s developed during the year. He’s raced great.”

Melander’s other finalists, Spencer Hanover and American Power, drew posts nine and 10, respectively.

Endurance will leave from post seven for driver Andrew McCarthy and trainer Chris Beaver. The son of Captain Corey-Love Session has 10 wins and three seconds in 14 career starts, with $1.2 million in earnings for owners Super Endurance Stable of Radner, Ohio, Bill Manes of Rockwood, Ont., Leo Fleming of Campbellville, Ont., and Mark Moger of Amelia Island, Florida. He is the 5-1 third choice on the morning line.

“The horse never really surprises me,” said Beaver. “He always comes up big.

“He’s raced on the front some because I was trying to keep him away from tough competition for part of the year, but his best race is when he’s coming off the pace. I think he’s got as big a set of lungs as any horse in the race and he loves a big track. I think as long as we can get into it, we have a good shot. It looks like Big Ranger wants to push the pace and that might work to our favour.”

Hambletonian Day at The Meadowlands will feature a stakes-packed 16-race card with an early post time of 12 noon. The Hambletonian Oaks is carded as the ninth race with an approximate post time of 3:36 p.m. and the Hambletonian will be race 11 with an approximate post time of 4:51 p.m. The Hambletonian will be broadcast live as part of Fox Sports 2's (FS2) coverage of Saturday's stakes action at The Meadowlands from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. as well as Prime Time Racing's all-day coverage on Game+.

The field for the 2026 Hambletonian, with final drivers and trainers, is listed below. Elimination winners (*) drew for posts one through six. 

$1 million USD Hambletonian Stakes (Grade 1)
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Minoan - Todd McCarthy - Noel Daley - 25-1
2. It Could Be Worse - Scott Zeron - Linda Toscano - 8-1
3. Apex* - Dexter Dunn - Marcus Melander - 5-2
4. Big Ranger* - Tim Tetrick - Anette Lorentzon - 2-1
5. Captain Naughty - Brett Beckwith - Per Engblom - 15-1
6. AI - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke - 12-1
7. Endurance - Andrew McCarthy - Chris Beaver - 5-1
8. Magic Punk - Yannick Gingras - Ake Svanstedt - 15-1
9. Spencer Hanover - Jason Bartlett - Marcus Melander - 20-1
10. American Power - James MacDonald - Marcus Melander - 10-1

Who do you think will win? Have your say in our current Standardbred Canada web poll.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)