With connections thoroughly entrenched in Canada, Marion Marauder will seek fame and glory stateside in this Saturday's $1 million Hambletonian at Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey.
Marion Marauder starts in the first of two $70,000 Hambletonian eliminations on Saturday, August 6 for owners Marion Jean Wellwood (of Stratford, Ont.) and Devin Keeling (of Cambridge, Ont.), and the husband-and-wife training tandem of Mike Keeling and Paula Wellwood (Devin's parents, Jean's son-in-law and daughter). Driver Scott Zeron was born in Montreal and raised in Oakville, Ont. before relocating to New Jersey in 2013.
With a record sporting four wins from five starts this year, including the $268,000 Goodtimes Trot at Mohawk Racetrack and a $153,250 division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial at The Meadowlands, Marion Marauder comes into the first leg of trotting's Triple Crown in career form.
“He’s on a bit of a winning streak,” said trainer Mike Keeling. “He’s learned to win. He likes to win. He’s fit and happy, and I’m just pleased with him.”
A three-year-old colt by Muscle Hill out of the Donerail mare Spellbound Hanover, Marion Marauder will start from post four in the first heat of the Hambletonian, just to the inside of winter-book favourite, and the 2015 Dan Patch and O’Brien Award-winning trotter Southwind Frank.
“I didn’t think we’d meet until the final,” Keeling said. “It’s going to be interesting. I’m not intimidated. It’ll come down to who gets the trip and we’ll see how that goes.
“The four-hole’s a great spot at the Meadowlands,” Keeling continued. “It’s easier to see what’s happening around you and to make a decision from there...We don’t want him too far back; we want him to be within striking distance.”
Coming from second over to win the Goodtimes final, going wire to wire in the Stanley Dancer, and blowing through horses in an Open at the Meadowlands, Marion Marauder has demonstrated an adjustable racing style key to Grand Circuit-level success.
“He’s the most versatile horse I’ve had in the Hambletonian,” Keeling said. “He has been a stalker. We’ve had to do that with him, but I think he can race from anywhere. He doesn’t have to have a trip.”
Keeling notes that versatility is also accompanied by maturity and manners.
“Behind the starting gate, as a two-year-old, he had a habit of trying to reach out and grab other horses,” Keeling also said. “We would have to bring him up to the gate late, and that would put him behind, but he’s over that now.”
Laddie was Team Keelwood’s most recent Hambletonian starter; he finished third in the 2007 edition to Donato Hanover and Adrian Chip. In 2009, they sent Elusive Desire to the Hambletonian Oaks, where she was favoured but finished third in a nailbiter to Broadway Schooner.
“I’ve learned to have your horse the best you can have them,” Keeling said. “The rest will take care of itself.
“We’re great friends with Linda Toscano [trainer of 2012 Hambletonian winner Market Share],” Keeling also said. “We’re in her barn, and she has been a great sounding board. She has been very helpful letting us be comfortable in what we’re doing.”
Keeling said he wasn’t worried about Marion Marauder (hopefully) going two heats in Saturday's million-dollar main event.
“He recovers well, and he’s not a big, heavy horse, so it shouldn’t be an issue,” Keeling said. “We’ve had him on the same training plan for months,” Keeling also said. “We don’t over-train him, but we work him over a bit of distance.”
The Stanley Dancer Memorial was Marion Marauder’s last prep before the Hambletonian, since he scratched from a qualifier during the Meadowlands qualifying session this past Saturday (July 30) at the Big M. Keeling confirmed that the reason for the scratch had nothing to do with the horse's condition.
“We put him in thinking we’d catch a cheaper field and get a good mile into him,” Keeling said. “But, when they put him in with these horses like Pinkman and Rose Run Speedster...I don’t want a max effort against those kind of horses. That’s silliness.”
A race long sought after by Jean's husband and Paula's father, the late, great Hall of Famer Bill Wellwood, Marion Marauder would give each of the connections their first Hambletonian trophy. Considered by many to be the biggest race in harness racing, the Hambletonian is the most sought-after event by horsemen to win. For Keeling, the magnitude of this race lifted it atop his bucket list early on.
“From the first time I read the Canadian Sportsman, I imagined winning the Hambletonian,” Keeling said. “It’s just one of those races. I didn’t dream about the NHL, I dreamed about the Hambletonian when I was a kid. Everybody who trains Standardbreds, especially trotters, wants to win it. It’s the race that gets you up in the morning.”
The Hambletonian format calls for any eliminations to be contested the same day as the final. A total of 18 horses entered this year’s event, requiring two $70,000 eliminations from which the top five finishers in each division advance to the final. The winner of the $1 million final is the Hambletonian champion.
Cable channel CBS Sports Network will air live coverage of the Hambletonian from 4:00-5:30 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday. First race post time on Hambletonian Day is 12 noon.
First $70,000 Hambletonian elim - Race 8 - Post Time: 2:58 p.m.
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Odds
1. Bar Hopping – Tim Tetrick – Jimmy Takter – 9/5
2. Lagerfeld – Yannick Gingras – Jimmy Takter – 12/1
3. Make Or Miss – Joe Bongiorno – Ron Burke – 20/1
4. Milligans School – Andy Miller – Julie Miller – 10/1
5. Brooklyn Hill – David Miller – Jonas Czernyson – 3/1
6. Mavens Way – John Campbell – Ake Svanstedt – 6/1
7. Tight Lines – Jeff Gregory – Jeff Gregory – 25/1
8. Iron Mine Bucky – George Dennis – Greg Haverstick – 15/1
9. Reigning Moni – David Miller – Jimmy Takter – 4/1
Second $70,000 Hambletonian elim - Race 9 - Post Time: 3:25 p.m.
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Odds
1. Jimmy William – Tim Tetrick – Jimmy Takter – 20/1
2. The Royal Harry – Ake Svanstedt – Ake Svanstedt – 20/1
3. Sutton – Andy Miller – Julie Miller – 6/1
4. Marion Marauder – Scott Zeron – Paula Wellwood – 3/1
5. Southwind Frank – Yannick Gingras – Ron Burke – 4/5
6. Hollywood Highway – John Campbell – Staffan Lind – 30/1
7. Dominion Beach – Bjorn Goop – Nancy Johansson – 30/1
8. Love Matters – Brett Miller – Jimmy Takter – 12/1
9. Waitlifter K – David Miller – Andrew Harris – 10/1
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Ray Cotolo)