After the final sustaining payment,
47 three year old pacers remain eligible for the 35th edition of The
Meadowlands Pace. The list of remaining Meadowlands Pace eligibles can be
found here: http://meadowlandsracetrack.com/uploadedFiles/2014_Road%20To%20The%20Pace_Week%208.pdf
Last year, The Meadowlands Pace was won by Captaintreacherous who went on to
become the Dan Patch Award Winner as champion three year old pacer as well as
Pacer of the Year for the second consecutive season. While
Captaintreacherous was a dominant force in the three year old pacing ranks in
2013, the 2014 landscape is painted much differently, as this year’s crop
appears to be one of the most wide open of the last decade.
In addition, due to the increase in horses eligible for The Meadowlands Pace,
the purse of the race will grow, according to Director of Racing Operations
Darin Zoccali. “This year just worked out perfectly for this race.
The combination of a wide open three year old pacing division tied into the
changes we have made to the payment structure have secured a stronger purse for
the Final of The Meadowlands Pace than the past two years, which was our hopes
in implementing this plan,” said Zoccali. “At this time last year, we had
25 horses still eligible to the Pace. This year that number is 47, which
is incredible. While the purse for the Final is always dependent on the
number of eliminations, I estimate the purse for the Final being in the
vicinity of $750,000.”
In addition, the payment structure for the eliminations and Final of The
Meadowlands Pace is different, with a $2,500 starting fee for the elimination
and a $5,000 starting fee for the Final. “We thought asking someone to
put up $6,000 for just the elimination with no guarantee of making the Final
was a policy that could be improved upon,” added Zoccali. “By structuring
the payments this way, we were able to lighten up the nominating and sustaining
payments for the race, while only requiring a $2,500 starting fee for the
elimination. Now, in the case where an owner’s horse does not make the
Final after contesting the eliminations, he has paid nearly $5,000 less than in
previous years. These improvements will continue in 2015 and 2016 and I
envision the purse continuing to grow as well.”
To check out the leading contenders for The Meadowlands Pace, look through the
latest edition of “The Road To The Meadowlands Pace” here: http://meadowlandsracetrack.com/uploadedFiles/2014_Road%20To%20The%20Pace_Week%208.pdf.
