April 2026 Issue

April 2026 | EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN 39 By Regina Stoltzfus With the 100th Hambletonian come and gone back in August, I found myself thinking about another Hambletonian—not that long ago. It was Saturday, August 4, 2018. To most of the world it felt like just another ordinary, hum- drum summer day. But to those of us who knew, it was anything but ordinary. The horses felt it too. Grooms hurried. Owners spoke carefully, trying to keep tension from creeping into their voices for the sake of their horses—but how could they? So many dreams were built on this race. The Hambletonian Stakes, one of harness racing’s greatest events, the first jewel of the trotting Triple Crown. “Let’s go, let’s go! We don’t want to be late,” you said—but everything was already set. Still, we couldn’t get there fast enough. All good things take time, and if a day with horses and friends isn’t good, then I can’t think of what is. Finally, we were there. Horses whinnied. The announcer’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker. The races were about to begin. Who did we think would win? Crystal Fashion had taken the first elimination. Tactical Landing won the second. Alarm Detector had won the O’Brien Award as a two-year-old. The filly, At- lanta, was daring to take on the boys. People milled about, choosing favorites. You could catch snippets within the background din. “Did you hear Six Pack got disqualified?” “Yeah, he locked wheels with Classichap, didn’t he?” “Too bad—he’s a good horse.” “I like Crystal Fashion.” “I’m cheering for the underdog—Mets Hall.” “Wolfgang’s not running—he got eliminated!” As the conversations drifted, so did my mind. I thought about the history of the Hambletonian. A yearly event for three-year-old trotters, held in honor of Hambletonian 10—the “Daddy of all Standardbreds.” First run in 1926 at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, it moved in 1930 to Goodtime Park in Goshen, New York, whose triangular track gained fame from the race. When the Hambletonian relocated to Du Quoin, Illinois, in 1957, Goodtime Park declined and eventually faded from use. In 1981, the race found its home at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it has remained ever since. Depending on entries, two or three elimina- tion races are always held about a week prior, with the top ten advancing to the final on the first Saturday in August. “I bet you a soda that filly’s going to win,” you broke into my thoughts. “What makes you think that?” I replied. “She’s got some good wins, sure—but she didn’t even win her elimination.” But Atlanta did win. From post seven, she swept to the lead and held it, her tail seeming to say: Catch me if you can. But they couldn’t.The crowd roared. Atlanta became the fourteenth filly to win the Hambleto- nian—and the first in twenty-two years. Mets Hall finished second, a few lengths back. Tactical Landing was a close third. The rest trailed behind. Scott Zeron, driving for his father Rick—At- lanta’s trainer at the time— had persuaded him to enter her in the Hambletonian Stakes, open to colts and fillies, rather than the Hambletonian Oaks, restricted to fillies. That year, Atlanta earned the Dan PatchAward and captured the hearts of countless fans. In 2019, she again received the Dan Patch Award, along with the O’Brien Award. And she wasn’t finished. In 2021, in the Allerage Farms Open Mare Trot at the Red Mile, she earned another distinction—world’s co-fastest female trotter—going 1:49.1 to the mile with driver Yannick Gingras. She thrilled her audience. She was, undeniably, a horse to be reckoned with. Fourteen-year-old Regina Stoltzfus loves animals as well as reading, writing, and nature. She lives in southeastern Pennsylvania on a farm where she spoils her horses, ponies, cats, and dogs. Thoughts on a Historic Day, a Beloved Race, and a Legendary Mare A Young Writer’s Perspective Atlanta, born on March 30th, 2015, is an impressive dark bay, by Chapter Seven out of Hemi Blue Chip. She had a career of 73 races, 35 wins, and hit the board 60 times. Rick Zeron was her trainer until she was four years old, then Ron Burke took over. She had multiple grooms over the course of her life, and likely many other people that played important roles in Atlanta’s racing years. NowMiss Atlanta lives atCrawfordFarms inSyracuse,New York, raising the next generation of trotters.