Early Hambletonian favourite Muscle Hill might be absent, but Friday’s Historic-Dickerson Cup at the Meadowlands Racetrack still will provide Hambletonian watchers with plenty of hopefuls on which to focus
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All 17 horses in the two Dickerson divisions are eligible to the $1.5-million Hambletonian, which is August 8 at the Big M.
Driver/trainer Ray Schnittker, who won the 2008 Hambletonian with Deweycheatumnhowe, is not too optimistic with his colts Tad The Stud and Citation Lindy.
“We don’t have as much talent as everyone else does,” Schnittker said.
But he did say that Citation Lindy, a son of Cantab Hall - Benedicta Jet, would be the one to bring success if good fortune should choose to trot in his direction. He’s won three of six starts this year. Tad The Stud, a son of Windsongs Legacy - Chocolate Layered, has yet to win a race this year in his eight starts.
“(Citation Lindy’s) got the tools,” Schnittker said.
Schnittker is hoping that his colts can stay competitive. That seems to be especially ironic considering those same thoughts are what people had toward his horse, Deweycheatumnhowe, before he won last year’s Hambletonian.
“There’s no comparison,” Schnittker said referring to “Dewey’s” superior performance. “I need a lot of luck that day.”
A trainer who might have more reason for optimism is Jonas Czernyson. His colts Hot Shot Blue Chip and Symphonic Hanover have the fastest winning times in the field heading into Friday’s races. Hot Shot Blue Chip (Revenue S - Hustle N Muscle) holds a time of 1:53.3 while Symphonic Hanover (Cantab Hall - Sounds Swell) is only a fifth of a second behind with 1:53.4. Symphonic Hanover has two wins in three starts this year while Hot Shot Blue Chip has grabbed one of five races.
Russell Hill, trained by Jimmy Takter, is the richest horse coming into the Dickerson, with $179,512 in 2009 earnings. Whether or not having a fat wallet will alter this colt’s destiny has yet to be seen, but the son of Conway Hall - Southwind Maywood has taken five victories from his seven starts.
Last year’s William Wellwood Memorial Trot winner Tom Cango and Matron Stakes winner Explosive Matter also are part of the Dickerson fields, as well as this season’s New Jersey Sire Stakes runner-up The Chancellor.
(Harness Racing Communications)
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