The calendar turning to spring usually means the reappearance of stars of racing from the previous year, and after a year impacted dramatically by the shutdown of racing across the continent last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 seemed to be back to the norm. However, as we now sit in the second week of May that is certainly the case for U.S.-based trainers, but not so for their Canadian brethren. Although racetracks in Canada -- specifically Ontario -- had returned to racing, a surprise decision by the provincial government to halt action last month led to indecision by trainers on how to proceed. Some trainers and drivers headed straight to the border to find temporary homes at U.S. tracks. No site was more welcoming than The Meadowlands, which with the cooperation of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey, was able to not only reschedule some of the canceled stakes events, but also add races. The Meadowlands stakes manager Nick Salvi took a few minutes to explain the scenario.