Growing up in a family of horsemen in Ontario, John Campbell knew how prestigious the Hambletonian was. Then he saw good friend Ray Remmen win the first to take place at the Meadowlands in 1981.
"It was beyond a big deal," Campbell said. "It was something special."
On Saturday, the biggest event in harness racing celebrates a centennial anniversary with the 100th running of Hambletonian. While harness racing, like its thoroughbred equivalent, no longer holds the same prominence it once did in the U.S. sporting landscape, the storied history of the Hambletonian and its evolution to grow interest in Europe are responsible for its longevity.
"To have this big event still going on 100 years, it's something that I'm sure they didn't even envision when it was formed," said Campbell, a Harness Racing Hall of Fame driver who won the Hambletonian a record six times and participated a record 32 consecutive times from 1983-2014. "It's the consistency of it. They raced it no matter what, through the Depression, through World War II, so it was always there."
Campbell is now president and CEO of the Hambletonian Society that has shepherded the race named for the founding sire of standardbred horses through changing times. The purse is the sport's richest at 1 million, a long way from the nearly 75,000 on the line during the inaugural rendition in 1926 at the New York State Fair in Syracuse.