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Thursday, November 18, 2021

ONE MORE HUGE SATURDAY ON TAP AT THE BIG M

Meadowlands Media Relations

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – The stars will be out and shining brightly Saturday night at The Meadowlands, as the final circle-worthy date on the harness racing calendar for the year 2021 will feature many of the game’s top performers during a power-packed 14-race card on “Fall Final Four/TVG Finals Night”. Post time for the first race is 6:20 p.m.

Plenty will be on the line as divisional honors and – quite possibly – Horse of the Year could be won or lost as four events for 2-year-olds and four others for 3-years-old and older will be contested on the program for horses of each sex and gait. The great eight are:

·         Race 4 – $413,600 Valley Victory for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings: Kindergarten winner Fast As The Wind searches for his third straight victory. He missed by just a half-length from post 10 to winner Rebuff in the Breeders Crown on Oct. 29.

·         Race 5 – $175,000 TVG Mares Pace: Rocknificent and Lyons Sentinel, the best two older pacing mares in training who finished 1-2 in the Breeders Crown, renew their rivalry.

·         Race 6 – $479,450 Goldsmith Maid for 2-year-old trotting fillies: Two weeks after going off stride and failing to qualify for the Breeders Crown Final, Venerable dominated her foes in the Matron to win for the ninth time this year in 10 tries.

·         Race 7 – $175,000 TVG Mares Trot: Bella Bellini, the Hambletonian Oaks and Breeders Crown champion, takes on a big challenge as the 3-year-old takes on the likes of older standouts Felicityshagwell S, the Breeders Crown champion, and Atlanta, the co-fastest trotting mare in history (1:49) who recently ran her lifetime earnings past the $3-million mark.

·         Race 8 – $386,600 Governor’s Cup for 2-year-old pacing colts and geldings: Hammering Hank hit it out of the park in the Kindergarten to up his stats to eight wins from just 10 starts.

·         Race 9 – $350,000 TVG Open Trot: A remarkably wide-open event features Beads, who was second after displaying speed a week ago in a conditioned event, taking on Amigo Volo, second a week ago to a fast-closing When Dovescry in another conditioned race.

·         Race 10 – $359,450 Three Diamonds for 2-year-old pacing fillies: Niki Hill has been nothing short of a superstar all season long, as her record of eight wins from nine starts, which includes victories in the She’s A Great Lady, Breeders Crown and Kindergarten, prove.

·         Race 11 – $350,000 TVG Open Pace: Despite failing to win the Breeders Crown and Potomac in his last two, Allywag Hanover is hanging on to the lead in the division by a thread. Looking to overtake him is the horse who nailed him in the Crown, Ocean Rock, who has taken the Dayton Derby, Hoosier Park Pacing Derby and Ewart during his superb 2021 season.

Purses for the eight stakes events total $2,689,100.

“The Meadowlands is proud to present these classic races on a mile track,” said track Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Jason Settlemoir. “If the Breeders Crown was any indication, the racing fans and horseplayers will likely see some of the greatest performances of the year at The Meadowlands this Saturday night.”

THAT’S A HALF-DOZEN, COUSIN: The Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll weekly Top 10 that came out Tuesday (Nov. 16) morning revealed that six of the horses listed will be at The Big M Saturday. Here is the poll from top to bottom, with horses racing at The Meadowlands Saturday bearing an asterisk (*): Test Of Faith, Jujubee, *Niki Hill, *Bella Bellini, *Lyons Sentinel, *Venerable, *Allywag Hanover, Perfect Sting, Ecurie D DK, *Atlanta.

SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIALS: Plenty of The Meadowlands’ popular wagers that sport a low 15 per cent takeout will be available on the Saturday night card. They are:

·         Race 1: 20-cent Pick-5

·         Race 4: 20-cent TVG All-Stakes Survivor Pick-7

·         Race 6: 50-cent Early Pick-4 ($50,000 guaranteed pool)

·         Race 8: 20-cent Pick-6

·         Race 10: 50-cent Late Pick-4 ($50,000 guaranteed pool)

·         Race 14: 10-cent non-jackpot Pentafecta/Hi-5

DON’T MISS THE SHOW: Racing continues at The Meadowlands through the end of the year with the usual Friday-Saturday schedule, with one exception, as there will be no live racing on Dec. 24 or Dec. 25.

The Big M’s live in-house simulcast presentation gets underway on live race nights at 5:47 p.m. with the first race at 6:20 p.m.

READ ALL ABOUT IT: For extended coverage of all the Fall Final Four/TVG Finals Night action both before and after the event, you can check it out at the following websites: playmeadowlands.com, ustrotting.com, harnessracingupdate.com, drf.com/harness, standardbredcanada.ca and harnesslink.com.

GET SOCIAL: Everything Meadowlands is available by going on Twitter. You can check in with the Big M team for early changes, racing information and staff selections by going to @themeadowlands or #playbigm.

On race nights, stay in touch with Jessica Otten (@JessicaOtten1), Dave Brower (@eedoogie), Dave Little (@DaveLittleBigM), Ken Warkentin (@kenvoiceover), Shades Demsky (@ShadesOnRacing) and Edison Hatter (@Edison_1999_).

COME OUT AND PLAY: It’s always best when watching and wagering on the action at The Meadowlands to come out and be there in person, but for those who either live too far away or can’t make it out to the races for any reason, they can still experience the best harness racing in the world several ways.

An affordable way to view not only the action at The Big M, but virtually all harness and Thoroughbred tracks, is to get a subscription to the Roberts Television Network. For more information, go to rtn.tv.

There are a handful of Advance-Deposit Wagering spots where one can wager on Meadowlands races, one such site where you can make bets and watch the action live is the Television Games Network. For more information, go to tvg.com.

FREE PROGRAMS? YES! Talk about a great deal! Free program pages for every race of every Meadowlands race card are always available. Just go to playmeadowlands.com to access the no-cost past performances.

WHO DOES BROWER LIKE? For expert selections and analysis of every Big M card, check out track oddsmaker Dave Brower’s race reviews.

For Brower’s input, which is generally available 48 hours before every card, go to playmeadowlands.com, then click on the “handicapping” tab and go to “race reviews”.

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: This week’s edition of the National Football League’s Thursday (Nov. 18) Night Football finds the New England Patriots traveling to Atlanta to take on quarterback Matt Ryan and the Falcons in an 8:20 p.m. kickoff.

To watch and wager on the game, get to the FanDuel Sportsbook, one of the leading facilities of its type in the country, which is located inside the grandstand at The Meadowlands.

The Patriots were a 6½-point favorite who are -290 on the money line.

Prop Bets? FanDuel’s got’em. Whether you think Ryan will or will not pass for 250½ yards, the odds are -110. Also at -110 is the proposition that Patriots’ QB Mac Jones throws for more or less than 252½ yards.

The book is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-1 a.m.; Friday 10 a.m.-2 a.m.; Saturday 7 a.m.-2 a.m. and Sunday 8 a.m.-12 a.m.

For more information, call 877-689-0662.