Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The first
weekend of November at the Meadowlands brings the first stakes finals action of
the 2018-2019 meeting, and in addition, simulcast players will get to watch and
wager on the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will be held at
Louisville’s storied Churchill Downs.
On Friday, Churchill’s 10-race
program gets underway at 12:55 p.m., with the first of five Breeders’ Cup races
slated to go off at 3:21 p.m. The final BC event of the day – the $2 million
Juvenile – finds trainer Bob Baffert with the one to beat, 8-5 early favorite
Game Winner. Post time is 6:05 p.m.
Just 70 minutes later, the live
10-race harness card gets underway, featuring Pappy Go Go shooting for his
third win in a row taking on some tough customers in the $20,000 Preferred
Handicap for trotters in the third race.
Saturday morning at 10:45 a.m., a
spectacular 12-race program at Churchill kicks off, featuring nine Breeders’
Cup events, the first of which has a post time of noon. The biggest race of the
weekend – the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic – has a post time of 5:44 p.m.
Accelerate, off three straight romps against Grade 1 stock, is the morning-line
5-2 choice.
That evening, the 11-race harness
program begins at 7:15 p.m. and features four finals of the Kindergarten
Classic for 2-year-olds, with purses that total almost $900,000.
As
always, the Big M will offer it’s 50-Cent Pick-5 (which has a guaranteed pool
of $25,000) as well as the track’s signature 50-Cent Pick-4 ($50,000 promise).
Both bets have a low 15 percent takeout. Free Program pages are available on
the handicapping tab at ustrotting.com as
well as at playmeadowlands.com.
McWICKED GOOD NEWS: Trainer Casie Coleman has announced on Facebook that Breeders Crown
champion and Horse of the Year favorite McWicked will be returning for
his 8-year-old season in 2019 despite interest from multiple breeding farms.
He’ll conclude his 2018 campaign in the TVG Final at the Meadowlands on
November 24.
THE ‘DUNN’ UNDER WONDER: Australia native Dexter Dunn has been killing it of late, driving
three winners not only last Saturday night but on the previous Saturday evening
as well. … Over the same span, Monticello regular Mike Merton has guided five
horses to victory lane. … A pair of trainers had triples last weekend: Tony
Alagna on Friday and Bob Lounsbury on Saturday.
PARTY ON: November marks the five-year anniversary
of the opening of the new Meadowlands $100 million state-of-the-art grandstand.
Patrons will get to join in on the fun as the track will offer specials all
month long.
WHHC QUALIFIER SATURDAY: The first of six Meadowlands qualifiers for the World Harness Handicapping Championship presented by DerbyWars.com is this Saturday night.
The qualifier has
a $200 total fee ($100 entry plus a $100 real-money bankroll). The format
requires players to bet a minimum of $10 win wagers on 10 Meadowlands races
(Players can bet more than 10 races). The top two finishers will
earn spots in the WHHC with prize money to be paid out to the top 10
finishers. Players can register on-site Saturday up until 7:15 p.m.
