East Rutherford, NJ - The
Meadowlands will add Thursday night to the live racing schedule
beginning on January 8. The first Thursday card of the year will feature
the kick off to the annual Winter Late Closers, the Super Bowl for
lightly seasoned 3 & 4YO trotters. Leg one drew a healthy 37 entries which
were split into four divisions each racing for $12,500, with the $50,000 final
on January 24 the ultimate target.
Division one is the first race on the card
and offers a look at two of the top prospects competing in the series.
Royal Ice hasn’t raced much for owner Marc Goldberg and trainer/driver Trond
Smedshammer but bought himself a ticket to the 2014 Hambletonian with his
stunning 1:51.3 maiden-breaking win last summer. He’ll face JL Cruze, a winner
thrice including an impressive Big M debut last week for Delaware connections
who bought him last fall at Harrisburg. Eric Ell trains and John Campbell will
drive.
Propulsion has blossomed late for trainer
Tony Alagna, who likely hoping the Super Bowl will serve as a launching pad for
the regally bred son of Muscle Hill to go on to bigger and better
things for owners Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz, Al Libfeld, Sam Goldband, Joe
Sbrocco and Little E LLC. A three time winner last seaon, Propulsion set his
1:52.3 mark in Lexington last fall and scored in an overnight at The
Meadowlands a month ago. He’ll begin from post one in the second division (race
2) for driver Tim Tetrick.
Opulent Yankee is the logical choice in
division three (race 4) off his recent form. A Red Mile 1:51.4 winner last fall
Opulent Yankee has a win and a second in his last pair at The Meadowlands and
will begin from post two on Thursday for owner Little E, LLC. Andy and Julie
Miller are the driver and trainer, respectively.
The fourth division (race 7) is a
Pari-Mutuel puzzler and there is no greater mystery than Nick Salenetri’s
unraced four-year-old Two Hip Dip. Off just a pair of qualifiers, Two Hip Dip
gives the impression he may have been worth the wait with his most recent a
solid 1:59.1 / 27.1 win for Dave Miller, who is listed for Thursday’s race.
Speaking of Pari-Mutuels, the 8% take-out
Hi 5 wager is proving to be the “it” bet now and The Meadowlands presents a
pair of those opportunities nightly. The fifth race on Thursday will dispatch a
bulky field of a dozen C-2 trotters going the route distance of a mile and one
eighth and the jackpot carry-over for the wager is at $10,645. The last race will see ten pacers off and
the jackpot amount in that Hi 5 carry-over pool is over $28,000.
Post time on Thursday is 7:15pm. Further information
is available by visiting The Meadowlands website.
