Crowns, Hambos on OLN

The $1.8 million Breeders Crown Open finals and the eliminations for the $1.5 million Hambletonian from the Meadowlands Racetrack will air on OLN (Outdoor Life Network) in a one-hour special, the first of its kind for the network. The show will air Thursday, Aug. 3 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. (ET).

OLN, a cable and satellite dish channel dedicated to sports and outdoor adventure, recently added the National Hockey League to a network roster that includes such events as the Tour de France, World Team Tennis, The Ford “Built Tough” Rodeo Series and FightNight Boxing.

The fast-growing channel is available in 63 million homes and is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States and Canada. OLN can be viewed on both DIRECTV (Channel 608) and Dish Network (Channel 151), as well as most cable systems.

The Breeders Crown, harness racing’s championship series, launches Saturday, July 29, from the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., with two open and two mare events for trotters and pacers, worth a combined $1.8 million. Also featured on the special 5:00 p.m. (ET) card will be eliminations for the $1.5 million Hambletonian final and the $750,000 Hambletonian Oaks final to be raced Saturday, Aug. 5.

"Television exposure has always been a priority for the Breeders Crown series,” said Tom Charters, president and chief executive officer for The Hambletonian Society. "We believe the sport of harness racing fits perfectly with the OLN demographic and matches their programming, which is tailored to elite levels of competition. That certainly describes the Breeders Crown.”

The OLN broadcast will be hosted by Ken Warkentin, who handles announcing and television duties at the Meadowlands and provides analysis for the Hambletonian broadcast on CBS, and Dave Brower, co-host of Racing From The Meadowlands, aired nightly on Fox Sports Net.

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