East
Rutherford, NJ - A
stakes laden Saturday night card signals the return to
the kind of racing that makes The Meadowlands great. With but five
weeks left in the 2015 summer live racing season at The Big M the Grand Circuit is here to stay through
Hambletonian Day, August 8.
First post is 5:30 pm
both Friday & Saturday for this week.
No fewer than half of
the fourteen races are stakes. Leading the way is a pair of
eliminations for next week's Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace.
The division's
top sophs are in for the $50,000 Pace eliminations. The first split
comes in race six, featuring 2014 Dan Patch Award winning freshman and dual New
Jersey Sires Stakes champ Artspeak versus the 2015 Art Rooney Memorial
winner In The Arsenal.
North America Cup winner
Wakizashi Hanover and Hempt Memorial winner Wiggle It Jiggleit will tee it up
once again in the eleventh race. Adding intrigue is new shooter
Roland N Rock and his unbeaten record, emerging from the
Midwest seeking East Coast cred and a piece of the $700,000 final
purse.
Fans are invited to join the
online conversation leading up to the Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace by using #Pace15 on social media.
The Mistletoe Shalee
drew thirteen three-year-old filly pacers, which led to the top three 2015
earners (Bettor Be Steppin, Sassa Hanover and The Show Returns) accepting byes
into the $200,000 final leaving other ten left to battle for the remaining
seven berths. They are a solid, well matched group and offer a great betting
race as the twelfth on the bill.
The richest event of the
evening is the $250,000 Graduate Trotting Final. This race
concludes the inaugural season of the million dollar, four-race sequence
designed to transition four-year-old trotters and pacers into the open ranks.
The Graduate
Final pits trotting's newest star JL Cruze against last season's
heavyweights, Trotter/Three Year Old Trotting Filly of the Year Shake It
Cerry (who endeavors to strike a blow for feminism) and the
Three Year Old Trotting Colt of 2014 Father Patrick.
The story of JL Cruze
is truly a David & Goliath tale. While his chief foes were
making national headlines last season, his lot was a laborious
grind through the lower-end races of the New York Sires Stakes program.
Sold to his Delaware connections for a modest sum at auction last fall, he
dominated the Winter Series program at The Meadowlands and continues to
successfully ascend the ranks. It sets up to be a fascinating race.
The $62,000 W. N.
Reynolds Memorial for sophomore trotting colts (race 7) drew a bulky
single division of eleven led by last year's Breeders Crown runner-up Muscle
Diamond who returns to the Hambletonian trail after a two month hiatus.
The Mary Reynolds
trotting fillies split and will go as races two and four, each for around
$30,000.
On
the wagering front, one of the two Super Hi-5
Jackpot's carryovers was cashed in last
week. A Jackpot opportunity now remains in only the evening's
last race, the pool currently stands at $175,601.
The fifth race will
continue to offer a Super Hi-Five each night, but there will be no jackpot
carryover pool. The pool will pay out each and every night and it will
still carry an industry-low eight-percent (8%) takeout rate. Both wagers
are offered at the $.20 cent minimum.
The early start (5:30
pm) is due to Taylor Swift's 1989 World Tour at Met Life Stadium. The timing
should allow for an easy, traffic free exit after the races are complete.
More info is always
available by visiting The Meadowlands website.
