East
Rutherford, NJ - The Meadowlands is pleased
to announce the $1 million Graduate Series, a new initiative designed to
provide racing opportunities for four-year-old trotters and pacers in 2015.
While the schedule will
not be finalized until the December stakes meetings, the series will offer
three legs tentatively beginning in late May with $50,000e legs at Tioga Downs,
continue through June at The Meadowlands with the purse increasing to $75,000e
then $100,000e for legs two and three. The Graduate Finals will be raced at The
Meadowlands in early July with the purse for each gait guaranteed at $250,000.
Meadowlands Chairman
Jeff Gural has been vocal in his advocacy of keeping the equine stars of
the sport on the track beyond their sophomore season and spoke on the intent of
the series.
“I consider keeping the
best horses on the racetrack a priority to generate fan interest in racing.
This series will provide what the connections of those horses have indicated a
need for, a chance to race against horses of their own age until mid-season, when
they will graduate into the open stakes,” said Gural. "I appreciate the
support of Tommy Luchento, Leo McNamara and the New Jersey
horsemen in recognizing the importance of creating races that will appeal
to our customers by bringing back recognizable names that hopefully will
attract new younger customers while appealing to our regular customer base as
well."
Further details on the
Graduate Series will be made available as they become final.
