Staley Has Colt in $1.2-Million Hambletonian

Is his 20-year association with harness racing, Richard Staley has owned a pair of champion 2-year-old trotting colts and competed in the sport’s premiere races. Today, Staley will be at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., to watch his colt, Wall Street Banker, in harness racing’s top event, the $1.2-million Hambletonian.

Wall Street Banker is Staley’s first Hambletonian entrant since 1984, when Crowning Point finished 12th in the first division. Staley also owned Self Confident, the 1981 2-year-old trotting champion, who was second and 10th in divisions of the 1982 race.

Staley bought Wall Street Banker for $110,000 at a 1989 Kentucky yearling sale and the colt has won 10 of 23 races and $297,983. Last week in the $149,500 Beacon Course Trot final, one of the top prep races for the Hambletonian, Wall Street Banker closed well and finished second.

Wall Street Banker, however, has drawn the disadvantageous 10th post position for the first of today’s two divisions. He is listed at 8-1 in the morning line and will be driven by his trainer, Doug Ackerman.

“This horse has a very good chance, but it’s a wide-open field,” said Staley, who is not overly concerned with the post position. “Racing luck is so much a part of it. On a mile track, I’m not too worried about it.”

The Hambletonian has a different format this year. The top five horses from each division advance to the final. The first division morning-line favorite is the entry of UConn Don and MB Falty, and the second division favorite is Crysta’s Best.

California will also be represented in the $343,000 Niatross Pace for 2-year-olds. Humstinger, owned by Lloyd Arnold and Chris Bardis, drew the No. 1 position in the 10-horse field.