Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – The
Kindergarten Classic for 2-year-olds and a veteran standout looking to get back
on track are the top storylines this weekend at The Meadowlands.
On Friday (Oct. 23), eight divisions
of the Kindergarten’s third leg for 2-year-olds will hit the track. There will
be two divisions each for horses of both sexes and gaits.
Next week, the Kindergarten will have
its fourth and final leg (Oct. 30) before the series concludes on Nov. 7 with
four finals that have purses totaling $800,000.
After a rare poor performance last
week, Highalator, who saw his three-race Big M win streak come to an end at the
hands of Harambe Deo, seeks to find his way back to the winner’s circle in the
Saturday (Oct. 24) night feature, a high-end conditioned pace.
LAST WEEK: Dexter Dunn, who finished one winner
behind Yannick Gingras during the Championship Meeting that concluded in
August, had the hot hands last Friday night, winning five times on the evening
to be the leading driver for the weekend (Oct. 16-17). Gingras had four
winners, all on Saturday night.
Jeff Cullipher, after winning three
times on Oct. 10, followed that up with training doubles on both last Friday
and Saturday. His four winners led all trainers.
Despite 16 winning favorites from 26
races, many Big M players still made some big scores last weekend.
Among the wagers with notable payouts
were the 10-cent Pentafecta ($1,113 on Friday, $2,072 on Saturday), 20-cent
Pick-5 ($5,431 and $7,747), 50-cent Pick-4 ($5,910 and $1,129) and Trifecta
($2,510, $1,649 and $4,595 on Friday; $2,664 and $2,290 on Saturday).
IT ALL COMES DOWN: The Breeders Crown will be offered at
The Meadowlands on its simulcast network when the year-end event sees
eliminations take place this Friday and Saturday. Post time is 6:30 p.m.
Hoosier Park in Anderson, IN will
play host to the 2020 edition of the Crown, harness racing’s year-end 12-race
extravaganza for horses of all sexes, ages and gaits. Nine of the events will
require eliminations this weekend. Three races – the Open Pace, Open Trot and
Mare Trot – will not require elims and go directly to finals next week.
More than $6 million will be on the
table, as Friday, Oct. 30 will see the four Crown finals for 2-year-olds,
before a Saturday, Oct. 31 eight-pack that will include four championships for
3-year-olds and four more for open types. Post time each night is 6 p.m.
For complete Breeders Crown
information, go to http://ustrottingnews.com/6-million-breeders-crown-draws-161-for-harrahs-hoosier-park-championships/.
Many Breeders Crown performers will
no doubt be at The Meadowlands on Nov. 21 for Fall Final Four/TVG Finals Night.
That evening, 2-year-olds will be in
the spotlight as the Governor’s Cup (colt pace), Three Diamonds (filly pace),
Valley Victory (colt trot) and Goldsmith Maid (filly trot) makeup the Fall
Final Four, with total purses of about $1.8 million.
Year-end divisional honors – as well
as Horse of the Year – could be determined by what happens in the four TVG
Finals, which are the Mares Trot, Open Trot, Mares Pace and Open Pace, a
fabulous foursome which will see just over $1 million get doled out.
DON’T FORGET THE RUNNERS: Keeneland Race Course in Lexington,
KY is the site for the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will begin
with five events on Friday, Nov. 6 and conclude on Saturday, Nov. 7 with nine
more races, the last of which is the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The first Breeders’ Cup race on
Friday is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., while Saturday’s opener goes at 12:02 p.m.
The Classic has a post time of 5:13 p.m.
FREE PPs: For free past performances of
Meadowlands races, go to playmeadowlands.com,
where one can access races nine through 13 for both Friday and Saturday’s
programs. Those races include the 20-cent Late Pick-5, 50-cent Late Pick-4 and
10-cent Late Pentafecta, not to mention the Late Daily Double.
THE FUTURE’S SO BRIGHT: The newest member of the Meadowlands’
TV team is off to a good start. Last weekend saw Andrew “Shades” Demsky give
out both of his best bets on top and added one Pick-4 on Saturday night for
good measure.
This week, Demsky will be giving
commentary on TVG Friday night and serve as co-host alongside Dave Brower on
the in-house live simulcast presentation on Saturday.
TWEET THE TEAM: Stay in touch on Twitter with the Big
M’s Brower (@eedoogie), Dave Little (@DaveLittleBigM), Ken Warkentin
(@kenvoiceover), Demsky (@shadesonracing) and Jessica Otten (@JessicaOtten1).
Check in everyday for Meadowlands news and updates at those handles, as well as
@TheMeadowlands and #playbigm.
CHECK OUT THE PICKS: For those who need to get a leg up on
the action, go to playmeadowlands.com
to see track oddsmaker and analyst Brower’s selections and commentary. Click on
this link to check out Friday’s card: http://playmeadowlands.com/RaceReviews.aspx?racedt=10/23/2020.
Additionally, track announcer
Warkentin’s blog is available on the site and offers his picks and analysis.
On race nights, access picks and
plays from the Big M TV team at #playbigm or at @TheMeadowlands.
CHECK OUT THE SHOW: As always look for the “Racing from
The Meadowlands” live in-house simulcast show every Friday and Saturday night.
It begins at 6:42 p.m. First race is at 7:15 p.m.
If you want to watch all the action
at home, go to rtn.tv to catch every race live.
GET WORLD SERI-OUS: Get into the World Series at The Big
M, by watching and wagering on every game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and
Tampa Bay Rays in the FanDuel Sportsbook.
The Dodgers remain a solid favorite
to win their first championship since 1988, as with the series tied at a game
apiece heading into Friday night’s Game 3, Los Angeles is -200 to win the
series while Tampa Bay is +165.
In addition to baseball’s “Fall
Classic”, you can watch and wager on all the NFL and college football action,
as well as other sports. The book is open for business from 10 a.m. – midnight
Sunday through Friday and from 10 a.m. – 2 a.m. on Saturday.
