For the 13th straight year, the Hambletonian, harness racing’s premier event, will air live on CBS Sports.
The broadcast of 81st edition of the $1.5 million Hambletonian and the filly companion event, the $750,000 Hambletonian Oaks, is from 2 to 3 p.m. [EDT] on Saturday, August 5, live from the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Hambletonian remains the only harness race to be nationally televised by one of the four major networks. The CBS coverage of the event has won multiple John Hervey Awards and several international awards for excellence in broadcasting. The Meadowlands has been the
Home of the Hambletonian since 1981.
Hosting the show will be Gary Seibel, who will be joined by analysts Caton Bredar, Jay Privman, Meadowlands announcer and TV host Ken Warkentin and Hall of Fame trainer Ron Gurfein.
Seibel, a veteran harness racing broadcaster, has been a part of the Hambletonian broadcast since 1989 and a member of the CBS Hambletonian broadcast team since 1994. Seibel has covered racing for ESPN, SportsChannel and Prime Network. He also co-hosted the American Championship Harness Series programs and the Breeders Crown, harness racing’s divisional championship series, for more than a decade. Seibel currently serves as an anchor for the
TVG Network, the interactive horse racing network. Seibel has been with TVG since its inception as one of the sport’s acknowledged authorities.
Caton Bredar is a descendent of the late Hall of Fame jockey Ted Atkinson and the 1932 Hambletonian-winning driver Will Caton, for whom she is named. She was born in Palatine, Illinois, and, as the daughter of trainer Ray Metzler, spent her high school, college and post college days, riding and working with racehorses and earned her trainer’s license at age 16. Bredar made the shift from the barn area to management, and after working in publicity, marketing and special events, branched off into television.
Her many roles included on-track handicapper and eventually reporting and producing features for the nightly results show, “Chicago Racing Report,” airing on what is now Fox Sports Chicago, as well as the weekly stakes broadcast “Arlington Live,” which aired on WBBM-TV. During that time, she also worked for ABC Sports as a production assistant and researcher for the American Championship Racing Series and the Visa Triple Crown. She has since been the racing reporter or analyst for ESPN, ESPN2 and FOX Network.
In 1999, Bredar relocated to Los Angeles and helped launch the new horse racing network, TVG. For nearly five years she was lead anchor for the Television Games Network. Bredar is currently on the news staff of WAVE TV-3 in Louisville. She made her first appearance on WAVE 3 for last year’s Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby and was part of the team that earned the station an Eclipse for local horse racing coverage.
Jay Privman, a national correspondent for the Daily Racing Form, former analyst for FOX television and West Coast correspondent for the New York Times, has written several books on thoroughbred racing and is a five-time Red Smith Award winner.
Announcer and TV host Ken Warkentin has been a member of the Meadowlands Racetrack media department since May of 1991. Warkentin started with a Top 40 radio station in Ontario and still follows the music business but landed in racing with a job at Flamboro Downs.
The 47-year-old Toronto native began pursuing his goals after he graduated from Seneca College in Toronto with a degree in radio and television broadcasting in 1981. Now a citizen of both Canada and the United States, Ken resides with his wife, Jennifer, and their two children, Abby, 3 and Andrew, 2, in Cedar Grove, New Jersey.
Warkentin recently co-hosted the Hambletonian preview show that aired on OLN with fellow Meadowlands broadcaster Dave Brower.
Joining the broadcast team for the first time is Hall of Fame trainer Ron Gurfein, who has won a trio of Hambletonians and was inducted into the Harness Racing’s Living Hall of Fame in July. One of his most memorable moments in his career was his 1996 Hambletonian win with the filly Continentalvictory, who went on to become Horse of the Year. Gurfein is known as “The Guru” for his prowess with trotters.
His victory in 1:51.3 with Self Possessed in 1999 still stands as the Hambletonian stakes record. The first of his three Hambletonian triumphs came with Victory Dream in 1994.
The American Association of Equine Practitioners [AAEP] “Vet On Call” for the broadcast will be Dr. Scott Palmer of the New Jersey Equine Clinic in Clarksburg, New Jersey.
LIMITED DINING & SEATING AVAILABLE FOR HAMBLETONIAN DAY
Limited dining and $5 reserved seats are still available for Saturday, Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands.
For information or to make reservations, visit the Guest Service Center at the track or call 201-THEBIGM.
Courtesy Of The Meadowlands Media Relations Department
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