What region are you rooting for on Hambletonian Day?

The battle lines are drawn between Ohio-connected Big Ranger and Endurance and New Jersey and Kentucky’s Apex.

by Debbie Little

Whether you’re talking basketball, football, hockey, or harness racing, regional lines get drawn, and the two elimination winners for Winning Key Farm Hambletonian 101 play right into that frame of mind.

Bragging rights will be determined on Saturday afternoon at The Meadowlands. Among the favorites, the Midwest will be rooting for Ohio’s own Big Ranger and Endurance; the former is a son of the Buckeye State’s In Range while the latter is co-owned and trained there. Representing the East Coast is Apex, a son of New Jersey-based Walner.

Big Ranger, the 2025 Ohio Horse of the Year, was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite off an ultra-impressive clocking of 1:50 in his Hambletonian elimination last week.

“I think he came in [to the Hambletonian elims] a little bit as a dark horse because nobody really knew what to expect,” said trainer Anette Lorentzon. “I mean, the people that have seen him [race before], they know what they saw, and like I said, we believed in him. I knew he could go in [1]:50 for sure because he’d already done it at Scioto, but it’s a different level of horses when you go out here [to The Meadowlands] and race. So, you never know.”

Big Ranger, who was purchased at the 2024 Ohio Selected Jug Sale by Ohio-based owner Madison Global for $25,000, was previously trained and driven by Ronnie Gillespie, and has now been in the barn of Lorentzon for his last three starts.

“I had him about almost three weeks before we raced him the first time, so we got decent time to get to know him, and he’s a very nice horse to be around,” Lorentzon said. “He’s got a lot of energy and loves to chew on anything and everything. He’s full of himself usually in the mornings because he wants to go out in the morning and then he comes in and jogs and trains and then after that he’s fine. He’s not mean, he’s just full of himself.”

Under the tutelage of Lorentzon and her husband Tony Hall, Big Ranger raced twice at Scioto Downs in Ohio before heading to New Jersey. On June 13, the son of Tactical Landing’s daughter Big Blue Bird, went 1:50.3 in a leg of the Ohio Sire Stakes, followed by a 1:51.4 clocking on July 18 in the Buckeye Stallion Series.

“A lot of people questioned what I did with him before the [Hambletonian] elimination, but in my mind, we only had two choices,” Lorentzon said. “It was either bring him to Northfield and race him on a half-mile track in the sire stakes, or go in the Buckeye, which I know wasn’t that much competition, but we stayed on a five-eighths. So, I choose to go on a five-eighths because I know that he’s very good there.

“I know [driver] Timmy [Tetrick] also would have liked him out here [in New Jersey] to see, but I told Timmy that me and Tony had been talking about it, and the horse honestly has been going as fast at Scioto Downs as they’ve been doing out here at The Meadowlands.

“So, for me, he already showed the speed. He’s been going fast enough, and my gut feeling told me to keep him home as long as possible because, I mean, he’s got to change to our way of training… so that’s why I chose to keep him home since he wasn’t paid to the Stanley Dancer [at The Meadowlands on July 11]. So, that’s why I figured it didn’t make sense to bring him out here to qualify or something like that.”

Although Lorentzon has a stable in New Jersey overseen by her sister Anna, her main stable is based in Kentucky, and Tim Tetrick picked up the driving assignment on Big Ranger for his last three starts.

“We talked to the owners that we’re going to go for the Grand Circuit, so that’s when we looked at drivers and Timmy had been driving a lot of the horses for us before,” Lorentzon said. “So, I called him up and I asked him if he had anything for that race and I said ‘I don’t know how good he is, but if he’s good enough, we are looking forward to going to the Hambletonian.’

“So, I said, ‘If you have an opportunity, I would like you to come down and drive him. And he said, ‘Absolutely.’ He was more than happy when he drove him the first time.”

By virtue of winning his Hambletonian elim, Big Ranger was able to draw for a post between 1 and 6 and drew 4.

Apex, the Dan Patch 2-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year in 2025, and winter-book favorite for America’s Trotting Classic, sat atop Ken Warkentin’s Road to the Winning Key Farm Hambletonian for all 14 weeks heading into Saturday’s final.

Apex, who won his Hambletonian elimination by a nose over Endurance, has only known favorite status in his four starts this season, but was installed as the 5-2 morning-line second choice.

The impeccably bred Apex, out of multi-Dan Patch Award winner Mission Brief, was bred by the Mission Brief Stable and sold for $525,000 at the 2024 Standardbred Horse Sale to owners Jeffrey Snyder, S R F Stable, and Steve Stewart.

When asked how he feels about not being the Hambletonian morning-line favorite, Stewart said, “I like that a lot. I don’t like being the favorite. We bred Rebuff, and he went off as the 3-5 favorite and didn’t get a check… You can’t go under the radar when you have Apex, but if we’re not favored, that’s not a bad thing for Cindy and I.”

Stewart (part of the Mission Brief Stable) and his wife Cindy are the owners of Hunterton Farm in Kentucky, where both Apex and Endurance were foaled.

“Those two grew up in the same field together,” Steve said. “It’s really kind of interesting that here you’ve got those two guys vying for the Hambletonian. In the elimination they were six inches apart, and they were born four days apart, and they basically were literally raised together.

“They went to the sale together. They sold the same day. One sold for $14,000 [Endurance], and one sold for $525,000 [Apex]. They don’t know what they’re worth, which is good. And both of them are really top horses, so it’s kind of interesting.

“The only time they were ever separated in their lives was when at the end of the Harrisburg Sale, one went to Ohio with [co-owner/trainer] Chris Beaver, and the other one went to New Jersey, the opposite direction from Harrisburg two years ago… and they finished 1-2 in the Mohawk Million last year.”

In his quest for Hambletonian glory, the Marcus Melander-trained Apex, who drew post 3 and will be driven by Dexter Dunn, looks to accomplish what his highly decorated parents could not do.

Just like Apex, Walner was the Hambletonian winter-book favorite in 2017, but after going two-for-two to start his sophomore season, including a win in a division of the Stanley Dancer, he was sidelined by an injury prior to the Hambletonian that ended his racing career.

Rather than racing the fillies in the Hambletonian Oaks, Mission Brief took on the boys, and after winning her elimination, finished second by three-quarters-of-a-length in the final to Pinkman.

Much like the connections of Big Ranger, the owners of Endurance — Super Endurance Stable, Bill Manes, Leo Fleming, and Mark Moger — look to be singing a little Hang On Sloopy after the Hambletonian hits the wire. Ask an Ohio State fan if you don’t get the reference.

Endurance, a colt by Captain Corey out of the Muscle Massive mare Love Session, is the 5-1 third choice from post 7 for driver Andy McCarthy for Saturday’s million-dollar final.

“I’m sure it’s never happened before, where you have two buddies raised together in literally the same field, prepped in the same barn, go to the sale, sell the same day, one sells for a fortune and the other one doesn’t bring a whole lot, and they finished six inches apart in the Hambletonian elimination,” Steve said. “Obviously, if Apex doesn’t win, we hope Endurance does… we’re very honored that we’ve got two boys that are vying for the big race and both of them have a real shot.

“What I think is wonderful about our sport is the fact that one sold for $14,000 and one sold for $525,000, and I think that is a reflection on our industry that anybody can play… So, there’s room for everybody.

“I think a lot of guys that don’t have a lot of money, say ‘Oh, you can’t compete, with those rich guys buying all the expensive ones.’ Well, guess what? That’s not true. And this is a perfect example, because they sold the same day in Harrisburg.

“I think Big Ranger didn’t sell for a whole lot of money either… It sure is nice when there is such a contrast, and it’s not all the big trainers, it’s not all the big horses, and that’s the beauty of our business, which I love.”