Tyler Buter doesn’t know if his horse can win the Hambletonian, but he knows darn well that he deserves the opportunity to try.
Buter will be driving Mr Vicktor out of the five hole in the first elimination Saturday, and he is certain the horse belongs in the field of outstanding competitors.
“I thought so early on in the year,” Buter said. “They sold him to (trainer) Jennifer Lappe and (husband) John Kokinos and that was the main reason they bought him, to have a horse with the potential to race in the Hambletonian. The only time other than last week that he’s been beat was against Gimpanzee, who is one of the top two to win the Hambo in my eyes. When you can keep up and race well against one of the top trotters in the country, there’s no reason to believe that he doesn’t belong in the Hambletonian.”
In nine starts this year, Mr Vicktor (RC Royalty-Hawaiian Vicky) has won six and finished second twice. His two seconds were both to Gimpanzee. He made his first Meadowlands start -- in fact, his first start outside of New York -- on July 27 and finished 12th after making a break in the Reynolds.
He has rebounded from an abbreviated two-year-old season, in which he was shut down after breathing issues surfaced. There have been no such issues this season, and Buter felt the Reynolds clunker was an aberration.
“He’s had a great year; his start last week, I would just throw it out,” he said. “It was unfortunate. It was a 12-horse field, two trailers, horses going everywhere in the first turn. It didn’t work out. I would not even take that start into consideration and look forward to this week.
“He’s really good-gaited and he has a desire to race. As soon as you turn him to the gate, he wants to go. He’s a very willing horse. He’s always showed up every week to race.”
The horse is also owned by Robert Santagata, Diamond Pride LLC (baseball legend Joe Torre) and Joe Lee, and Lee praises the way Buter handles the horse. This will be the driver’s Hambletonian debut, although he won the Townsend Ackerman Stakes with Two AM on Hambletonian Day in 2017.
“This is something you always look forward to growing up,” he said. “It’s what you work for. For the trotters, it’s the biggest race. It’s what you strive for, what you work for all your life. The chance to drive in it at (age) 33 is pretty cool, I think.”
The post positions for the Hambletonian’s opening-heat divisions appear below.
2019 HAMBLETONIAN
Heat 1 – Elimination 1
Post-Driver-Trainer-Morning Line Odds
1-Cantab Fashion-Scott Zeron-Jim Campbell-6/1
2-Summit In Sight-Andy Miller-Julie Miller-20/1
3-Swandre The Giant-David Miller-Ron Burke-7/2
4-Soul Strong-Dexter Dunn-Ake Svanstedt-8/1
5-Mr Vicktor-Tyler Buter-Jennifer Lappe-15/1
6-Osterc-Yannick Gingras-Per Engblom-15/1
7-Gimpanzee-Brian Sears-Marcus Melander-2/1
8-Green Manalishi S-Tim Tetrick-Marcus Melander-5/2
2019 HAMBLETONIAN
Heat 1 – Elimination 2
Post-Driver-Trainer-Morning Line Odds
1-Forbidden Trade-Bob McClure-Luc Blais-12/1
2-Gerry-Orjan Kihlstrom-Marcus Melander-20/1
3-Pilot Discretion-Andrew McCarthy-Tony Alagna-10/1
4-Reign Of Honor-David Miller-R. Nifty Norman-20/1
5-Greenshoe-Brian Sears-Marcus Melander-4/5
6-Dont Letem-Yannick Gingras-Nancy Johansson-4/1
7-Super Schissel-Scott Zeron-Per Engblom-10/1
8-Marseille-Ake Svanstedt-Ake Svanstedt-5/1
Important Links:
► Saturday Entries – Meadowlands Racetrack
► 2019 Hambletonian Day Program Pages
(USTA)