East Rutherford, NJ - The Meadowlands' 2018 Grand Circuit stakes
schedule will be powered by over $9 million in purses led by Harness Racing's
most coveted prize, the 93rd edition of the $1 million Hambletonian Stake.
The
Meadowlands will once again play host two of the sport's biggest events. The
$650,000 Meadowlands Pace headlines a card worth an estimated $2.3 million on
Saturday, July 14. Just a few weeks later, "The Greatest Day In Harness
Racing" $3 million Hambletonian Day extravaganza closes the "Championship
Meet" on Saturday, August 4.
With the
help of our generous sponsors, all of The Meadowlands marquee stakes
including many of the most sought after trophies for each division of trotters
and pacers will return in 2018. Nominations for those stakes close on February
15, 2018.
The New Jersey Sires Stakes
(NJSS) will accommodate the state-bred sophomore and freshman crop.
The Fall
Meet gets underway on Friday October 12 featuring late season 2-year-old stakes
with the $750,000 Kindergarten Classic Finals and the $1.5 million Freshman
Fall Final Four. The $1.1 million TVG Finals for older horses, another marquee
event, is also raced during the month of November.
All
Meadowlands stakes adhere to the Stallion Restriction Condition (SRC) and may
be subject to conditions imposed by the Standardbred Racing Integrity and
Accountability Initiative (SRIAI). Final details regarding SRIAI conditions
will be made public once finalized.
As you
consider staking, be advised that some new internal language intended to keep
the racing as fair as possible to those owners and trainers seeking a level
playing field has been added to the conditions for all Meadowlands administered
stakes.
The new
language may be found in all Meadowlands stakes conditions under the
"Rules" heading and states;
"Any
horse nominated to any Meadowlands stakes/event must be in the care of an
approved trainer by April 15, 2018 for any stake/event raced during the month
of May and by May 15 for all other 2018 stakes/events. Nominator also agrees
that any horse paid into any 2018 Meadowlands stake/event may be required to be
stabled at an approved facility in a state that agrees to cooperate in an Out
Of Competition Testing (OOCT) protocol; an approved for up to 14 days facility
within a 150 mile radius of The Meadowlands or the Tioga or Vernon Downs stable
area by the date set by The Meadowlands for that stake/event for the purpose of
OOCT. Failure to comply with these conditions may result in any agreement
created by the acceptance of any stakes payment to be declared void at the
discretion of The Meadowlands rendering the horse(s) in question ineligible to
race in those stakes/events with no liability to The Meadowlands and no
assurance of a refund of payments previously made to the stake/event in
question."
In an
effort to work with horsemen around North America, the New Jersey Racing
Commission (NJRC) will be working in concert with other regulatory bodies for
out of competition testing so that trainers (other than specific requests) will
have the option of locating within 150 miles, stabling at Vernon and Tioga or
remaining stabled where they are provided it is a jurisdiction that is working
in tandem with NJRC.
Some of
the samples collected by way of this new relationship will be
forwarded to the Hong Kong Jockey Club Racing Laboratory for testing purposes.
An exciting development of this joint venture is that any positive finding
from these OOCT samples will now be subject to the rules and
regulations of the New Jersey Racing Commission.
"We're making great strides on the integrity issue.
While it was never our intention to make things difficult for those honest
trainers competing in our stakes it has been necessary to have the horses where
they could be tested out of competition far enough in advance of the races to
get the results in before they raced," said Meadowlands President Jeff
Gural. "Now, with the cooperation of other states and provinces, we can
have the horse tested where they are stabled and serve the purpose without
relocating the horses. Just as importantly, with the NJRC involved in the
process there will be real consequences imposed on the cheaters instead of just
being excluded at my tracks."
Complete
information including schedules, conditions and nomination forms may be
downloaded from The
Meadowlands website. Questions should be directed to the Racing Office
at (201) 842-5130.
