Lawmaker heads into Saturday’s first Hambletonian elimination off a win at the Meadowlands in a conditioned race. The colt has won three of 14 lifetime races, but has gotten a paycheque in all his biggest races to date: third in the Beal and fifth in the Goodtimes this year, and fourth in the William Wellwood Memorial and second in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship last year.
“He’s doing really good,” trainer Andrew Harris said. “He came out of his last race really good. I think he’s come full circle. He had a bit of a rough year starting out, he had some issues that needed to be worked on, but he finally got over those and all signs are pointing upwards. He is getting better and better every start. He was really good in the Beal, I was very happy with him in the Beal final.
“I think he’s a really, really nice horse. Whether he’s an Atlanta or a Wolfgang or any of those type horses, I don’t know yet. He’s proved he’s worth giving a shot to.”
Lawmaker, who is 8-1 on the morning line, is by Muscle Massive out of Pretty Amigo. He is owned by the Anthony MacDonald-led fractional ownership group TheStable. MacDonald drove Lawmaker in his first 13 career races, winning two and hitting the board a total of 10 times, but weather-related travel issues forced him to miss the colt’s final Hambletonian prep on July 27. David Miller got the drive and won in 1:53.3.
MacDonald decided to keep Miller, a Hall of Famer who ranks No. 2 all time in purse money with $226 million, on board for the Hambletonian.
“As you can imagine, this was a very difficult decision for me, growing up watching the Hambletonian and dreaming of the day I got my shot,” MacDonald said in a statement earlier this week. “As a driver, I want to be the one on the gate...but as the co-owner of thestable.ca I have a much bigger responsibility to a huge group of people.”
The $1 million Hambletonian and $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks will be shown live from 4-5:30 p.m. (EDT) on CBS Sports Network. The stakes-filled Hambletonian Day card begins at noon.
Hambletonian Elimination One
PP - Driver –Trainer - Morning Line
1 - Shoshie Deo - George Brennan - Dewayne Minor - 10/1
2 - Evaluate - Orjan Kihlstrom - Marcus Melander - 15/1
3 - Mets Hall - Andy Miller - Julie Miller - 10/1
4 - Lawmaker - David Miller - Andrew Harris - 8/1
5 - Wolfgang - Yannick Gingras - Jimmy Takter - 5/2
6 - Crystal Fashion - Tim Tetrick - Jim Campbell - 7/2
7 - Atlanta - Scott Zeron - Rick Zeron - 3/1
8 - Hat Trick Habit - Brian Sears - Scott DiDomenico - 12/1
9 - Zephyr Kronos - Jimmy Takter - Jimmy Takter - 10/1
Hambletonian Elimination Two
PP - Driver –Trainer - Morning Line
1 - Fashionwoodchopper - David Miller - Jim Campbell - 10/1
2 - Patent Leather - Tim Tetrick - Jim Campbell - 15/1
3 - Classichap - Trond Smedshammer - Trond Smedshammer - 6/1
4 - Alarm Detector - Trevor Henry - Benoit Baillargeon - 10/1
5 - Fourth Dimension - Brian Sears - Marcus Melander - 10/1
6 - Southwind Chrome - Scott Zeron - Paula Wellwood - 5/1
7 - Tactical Landing - Jimmy Takter - Jimmy Takter - 4/1
8 - You Know You Do - Yannick Gingras - Jimmy Takter - 8/1
9 - Six Pack - Ake Svanstedt - Ake Svanstedt - 2/1
(USTA)