It's a race that all of those involved in harness racing dream of entering. The Hambletonian is the sport's biggest race and having a horse with the credentials matters most just five days before eliminations are scheduled. January dreams can be blown apart easily at any time, and many of today's top owners and trainers know the anguish of hitting a bump in the road at the exact wrong time and not being available to race on the first Saturday in August at the Meadowlands. Trainer Jenny Melander wasn't one of those trainers with those type of dreams. Though she had a 3-year-old gelding that was in fact made eligible, she had no illusions that One Hundred Poof was heading in that direction just a few short weeks ago. "We raced him a couple of times at the Meadowlands, and he raced ok, but he didn't seem that he could go enough to race in the Hambletonian," said Melander. "We entered him in the Tompkins-Geers last Saturday with the idea that we weren't going into the race because then he'd have to race three straight weeks." On paper it would have seemed obvious that racing below the Hambletonian class was more likely in the future for One Hundred Poof, but Melander had seen a progression of sorts as the horse continued to finish his miles with a final quarter better than the rest. "He always showed a strong last quarter," Melander said. "And he's been getting better with each race." Last year One Hundred Poof spent his 2-year-old campaign with trainer Nifty Norman and went winless in seven trips to post. With impeccable bloodlines, being a son of Muscle Hill and out of the $1.3 million winner Poof She's Gone, it appeared that One Hundred Poof was not going to elevate his stature enough to be a top 3-year-old, so he was listed for auction on OnGait and was sold for just $26,000. While some new owners might have been happy just to make One Hundred Poof into a good racehorse, the purchaser had higher expectations and the money to back his dream. "Mr. Cuddy's 76-years old," said Melander of owner Bruce Cuddy, "He was in the business a long time ago when his father [owner and breeder A.M. (Mac) Cuddy] had a lot of top stakes horses." Cuddy kept the payments up on major stakes races over the winter, though the horse he bought and would eventually geld had never won a race and had been discarded by a top owner from a top stable. "How many times are you going to have a chance to be in this race," Melander said. This past Saturday, One Hundred Poof recorded his best mile of the season, finishing fourth and timed in 1:52 4/5, just 2 1/2 lengths behind race-winner Point Of Perfect and a half-length in arrears of Excalibur Bi, the third-place finisher. Scott Zeron drove on that occasion and Melander quizzed the driver with two Hambletonian victories under his belt. "Scottie thought he raced well and was good enough to enter," said Melander. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter When entries for the Hambletonian were counted on Tuesday morning (July 25), One Hundred Poof was among 20 to enter the fray. Among the entries were Point Of Perfect and Excalibur Bi, suggesting that Melander was not alone in the quest for the $1 million August 5 finale. "I'm tickled pink to be in the race," said Melander. This will be Melander's first Hambletonian. She has dreamed of being in this race and preferred not to show up with a horse that just filled the entry box and didn't have a realistic chance. At the same time, circumstances throughout the racing season change and more than likely the decision to enter One Hundred Poof was about the recent news that two of the top sophomores would not be in the entry box. With Special Way and Volume Eight both sidelined, it opened the doors for many on the outside to come in and take a chance. "The timing just worked out," said Melander. "Plus, Mr. Cuddy told me that upsets happen in racing all of the time." Even those with a short memory will recall last year's winner Cool Papa Bell shocking the world with his come-from-behind Hambletonian triumph as the longest shot to ever win the trotting classic. For Bruce Cuddy though, having a horse in a Triple Crown race is nothing new. Some 50 years ago, during the summer of 1973, his dad's horse Smog was entered to race in the Cane Pace at Yonkers Raceway and was not the favorite, having drawn post nine in the second tier. The odds of him winning seemed in question when Hall of Fame trainer and his driver Stanley Dancer was sidelined due to a neck injury prior to the Cane and had to substitute his brother Vernon in the sulky. While not the longest shot on the board at 5-1, Smog sat third through much of the mile as the great Armbro Nesbit cut a contentious pace with favored Valiant Bret on his back. Things looked bleak for Smog when Valiant Bret pulled the pocket at three-quarters and tried to go past the leader. Armbro Nesbit fought him off, but in the homestretch drifted off the rail just enough to allow Smog a path to pull off the upset. At 30-1, One Hundred Poof is clearly an outsider in one of two $50,000 Hambletonian eliminations this Saturday. He drew post seven and likely doesn't have enough early speed to be near the lead at any point early in the mile. Still, Melander has plenty of reason for optimism, including the pedigree One Hundred Poof possesses. "It doesn't get much better than that," Melander said when pointing to 2009 Hambletonian champion Muscle Hill on the stallion line and Poof She's Gone, a Hambletonian Oaks elimination winner and 2009 2-year-old filly Breeders Crown champion. Melander will have a 2-year-old named Nottingham racing Friday at the Meadowlands in the second leg of the Kindergarten Series, and she likes the progress the E L Titan-sired gelding is making. "He had a little trouble with the turns the first time," said Melander of Nottingham, who broke stride in his Meadowlands debut on July 7. Entered in the New York Sire Stakes at Tioga on July 16, Nottingham handled the turns better on the smaller oval and then exploded with trot to blow past previously unbeaten Bargain in the deep stretch and record a 1:55 4/5 personal-best mile. "He's a smart horse that I've liked since I got him," said Melander. "Some of the E L Titans I've had have been difficult but he's not." As for the Tioga victory: "He finished with the earplugs still in." Nottingham is lightly-staked as a freshman, with Melander likely returning to the New York Sire Stakes with him for legs at Saratoga on August 4 and Vernon Downs on August 18.