Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – With the stars
in perfect alignment, wagering at The Meadowlands has been booming of late. In
fact, with the track dark each of the last two holiday-season Fridays, the
Saturdays (Dec. 26 and Jan. 2) that followed saw cumulative handle batter the
$8-million barrier.
After $3.7 million – the
fourth-highest day or night of business during 2020 – was pushed through the
windows Dec. 26, an incredible $4.5 million was put in play on Jan. 2, which
sets a high bar to leap over on a “non-event” card during 2021.
Last Saturday’s program started with
a loud bang and the noise kept on coming as players fired away
for all 15 races. The first race 20-cent Pick-5 had a well-publicized
carryover and $150,000 guaranteed pool that ended up with a total pool of just
over $360,000. In addition, because the $46,000 carryover was not subject to
the already low 15 percent takeout, bettors got back precisely 99.87 percent of
the Pick-5 action, instead of the usual 85 percent.
“The Meadowlands is offering
horseplayers a challenging and beatable game featuring low takeout and large pools
driving the insatiable demand for these wagers,” said Meadowlands’ Chief
Operating Officer and General Manager Jason Settlemoir. “We thank horseplayers
around the world for their increasingly positive response to New Jersey racing
at The Meadowlands.”
Big pools were the norm throughout
the Saturday card. Four times during the program betting on a single race
exceeded the $300,000 mark, with the first-race total of $565,076 representing
the evening’s most vigorous play on a single dash.
“Historically speaking,” said
Settlemoir. “Wagering over $300,000 a race without a stakes event on the
program is completely off the charts. We are proud of everyone at The Big M who
worked so hard to make a $4.5-million night possible. With no racing either of
the last two Fridays, there was obviously a large demand for the Saturday
program, and, fortunately for us, the momentum from the last Saturday in
December carried over into the first Saturday of January. Another factor was
our media relations people helping to fuel a social media fire that burned all
night long.”
Other big Saturday pools included the
track’s two signature Pick-4s, which averaged $111,597 per pool, as well as the
mile oval’s always popular Exacta, that averaged better than $84,000 a pop.
Total Exacta play for the night was better than $1.25 million.
“The Pick-5 carryover of $46,000
brought everyone to the party early,” said Settlemoir. “The Pick-5 pool grew to
$360,000 and the first race handle of $565,000 could possibly be a Meadowlands
record for an opening race. In addition, now that we are offering free program
pages on all Big M races, that provides something else that appeals to our
regular customers and may bring us some new clientele as well, and, during the
winter months, we have moved our post time to 6 p.m. In essence, we have traded
the 11 p.m.-to-midnight hour for the 6-7 p.m. hour. We certainly are happy with
the overwhelming response from our racing fans the last two weeks.”
The Big M’s six 15 percent takeout
wagers accounted for 14 percent of the evening’s action on Saturday, with a
total of over $650,000. In addition to the Pick-5 and two Pick-4s, players can
also choose to get in on the track’s 20-cent Survivor Pick-7, 20-cent Pick-6
and 10-cent Hi-Five.
A $100,000 PROMISE: Given the tremendous success of one
week ago, Big M management – along with the Standardbred Owners Association of
New Jersey – will provide $25,000 in seed money and a $100,000 guaranteed pool
for the Saturday night 20-cent Pick-5 wager.
In addition – on both Friday and
Saturday night – each 50-cent Pick-4 (which begin in races six and race 10,
respectively) have guaranteed pools of $50,000.
THE SCHEDULE: Live racing at The Meadowlands will
be conducted every Friday and Saturday night. First-race post time is 6 p.m.
TUNE IN: Be sure to watch the live “Racing
from The Meadowlands” pre-game show, which now begins at 5:27 p.m. every race
night.
On Friday, Dave Brower and Dave
Little will be at the main desk on the Sam McKee Memorial Broadcast Set while
Jessica Otten will be the featured handicapper on the live Television Games
Network (tvg.com) presentation. Shades Demsky will
provide interviews from the back paddock.
On Saturday night, Demsky will be
alongside Brower, Little will shift to TVG and Otten will not only be on
interview duty, but will also provide an in-depth look at the 20-cent Survivor
Pick-7 after the conclusion of the replay of race two.
TWEET THE TEAM: Stay in touch on Twitter with the Big
M’s Brower (@eedoogie), Little (@DaveLittleBigM), Ken Warkentin
(@kenvoiceover), Demsky (@shadesonracing) and Otten (@JessicaOtten1). Check in
everyday for Meadowlands news and updates at those handles, as well as
@TheMeadowlands and #playbigm.
FREE FOR ALL: Thanks to an agreement between The
Meadowlands and TrackMaster, past performances for every race of every program
through Hambletonian Day, Aug. 7, are now available to Big M players for free.
To access the free PPs, go to playmeadowlands.com.
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
the “handicapping” tab and go to “race reviews”.
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.
CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE TRACK? There are several options for those
who would rather catch the action from The Big M at home.
Racing fans can watch all the races
live on the Roberts Television Network (rtn.tv). In
addition, they can watch and wager by going to the Television Games Network (tvg.com) or their favorite Advance-deposit Wagering
site (ADW).
FANDUEL’S FOOTBALL FRENZY: Need a football fix? Head to the
Meadowlands’ FanDuel Sportsbook for all your action.
The National Football League playoffs
get underway with tripleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday. Kickoff times are
1 p.m., 4:40 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. both days.
Then, stick around for Monday, when
Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith and the Alabama Crimson Tide (-7½) take on
the Buckeyes of Ohio State and quarterback Justin Fields at 8 p.m. in the game
to determine who walks away with the National Championship of college football.
