Horseplayers given rare advantage with mandatory payout on Meadowlands Pace Night
July 13, 2016,from the Meadowlands Media Relations Department
East Rutherford, NJ — An extraordinary investment opportunity exists for horseplayers on Saturday night (July 16) at the Meadowlands when the track will offer a mandatory payout of the Jackpot Super High Five wager on one of its signature race programs — Meadowlands Pace Night. The wager features a jackpot carryover of $267,769 and a 15 percent takeout.
For the first time in harness racing history, the High Five mandatory payout will be on a top-class stakes event, the $223,150 Golden Girls featuring the top pacing mares in North America. The field features an overflow field of 12 and will be raced at the extended 1-1/8 mile distance.
The Golden Girls is scheduled as race 12 — one race after the $732,050 Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace final. The Pace and the Golden Girls will be featured during a one-hour live broadcast on TVG Network from 10–11 p.m. (EDT). The broadcast will also be carried on MSG Plus and Fox Sports Southeast.
In June, Mohawk Racetrack offered a mandatory payout of its Jackpot Super High Five on North America Cup night. The carryover attracted about two and a half times the carryover amount in new money. Using this ratio, the new money would be $669,422, making the Meadowlands Jackpot pool $937,191. The takeout would subtract $100,413 leaving a net pool of $836,778. Factoring in the carryover amount, horseplayers would be paid out from a pool of $836,778, or 25 percent more than the $669,422 of new money wagered. In other words, horseplayers taking a shot at this wager on Saturday would be playing into a pool with a negative effective takeout rate of 25 percent with the North America Cup night ratio. Furthermore, the horseplayer will still have a takeout advantage as long as the pool is less than $2 million. Low takeout combined with the sizable carryover has created the rarest of wagering opportunities.
The Jackpot race will also be the final leg of an all-stakes Pick-4 wager that begins with the $471,800 William Haughton Memorial featuring the next chapter of the budding Ali-Frazier-like rivalry between Wiggle It Jiggleit and Always B Miki, the top two ranked horses in harness racing. The duo, along with Indiana sensation Freaky Feet Pete, created tremendous buzz and interest when racing two weeks ago in a legendary renewal of the Ben Franklin at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Adding further intrigue to the sequel is the race will be contested with an overflow field of 12 at the extended distance of 1-1/8 miles. The three charismatic and fan-favorite horses have the potential to give any of the great rivalries in the history of the sport a major run for their money.
As the final leg of Pick-4 and Pick-3 wagers, horseplayers playing the Jackpot race can also use the posted will-pays for those multi-race wagers to help form an opinion and structure their ticket.
Free past performances for the entire Meadowlands Pace card will be available beginning Thursday at 4 p.m. on the Meadowlands website.
For more information, visit www.playmeadowlands.com and www.meadowlandspace.com.
- Early details on Meadowlands Pace card (Monday, July 11, 2016)
Entries have been taken for one of the biggest nights of the harness racing season with The Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace highlighting a full slate of Grand Circuit events at The Meadowlands on Saturday (July 16). “The Greatest Party in Harness Racing” will begin at a special early post time of 6:30 p.m.
- Eleven trotters enter $471,200 Hambletonian Maturity (Monday, July 11, 2016)
The third edition of the modern day Hambletonian Maturity will go to post Saturday (July 16) at The Meadowlands with a field of 11 4-year-old trotters competing for a purse of $471,200. Ten eligible trotters plus a $50,000 supplement by the connections of the latest Indiana-sired sensation, distaffer Hannelore Hanover, comprise the field of 11. Musical Rhythm, who won a Graduate leg at Mohawk Racetrack and the $250,000 final at The Meadowlands in 1:51.2 last Saturday, leads the field for trainer Ben Baillargeon.
- “We’re very fortunate and very appreciative” (Thursday, July 14, 2016)
Round Two in what is hoped to be a season-long series of pacing showdowns is set to take place at the Meadowlands Racetrack on Saturday, and at least one owner involved with the principal characters will cherish every minute of it. He likely won’t be alone. Highlighting the $471,800 William R. Haughton Memorial for older male pacers is another much-anticipated battle between 5-year-old Always B Miki and 4-year-olds Wiggle It Jiggleit and Freaky Feet Pete. The trio will have its second head-to-head-to-head meeting in what is the most talked-about rivalry in harness racing in years.
- Racing Hill’s owner is looking forward to Meadowlands Pace trip (Wednesday, July 13, 2016)
Racing Hill heads to Saturday’s $732,050 Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace as the 9-5 morning line favorite. And while the colt’s trip to the Meadowlands Racetrack will consist of a relatively short trailer ride on the New Jersey Turnpike, his owner’s journey will be considerably longer.Tom Hill, a 64-year-old lifelong participant in harness racing, will be joining Racing Hill at the Big M from his home in the United Kingdom.
- Outstanding Meadowlands card in Grand Circuit spotlight (Wednesday, July 13, 2016)
The stakes heavy Saturday (July 16) Grand Circuit card at the Meadowlands features the $732,050 Meadowlands Pace for 3-year-olds, the $471,800 W.R. Haughton Memorial for free for all pacers, and the $471,200 Hambletonian Maturity for 4-year-old trotters.
- Blue Moon Stride seeks ‘big race’ win in Mistletoe Shalee (Thursday, July 14, 2016)
Blue Moon Stride might not attract the same attention as some of her division rivals, such as Pure Country, L A Delight, and Darlinonthebeach, but the 3-year-old female pacer draws plenty of admiration from her trainer, Mark Harder.
- Zeron talks Marion Marauder (Friday, July 15, 2016)
There’s really no other way to put it. Scott Zeron is optimistic when it comes to driving Marion Marauder. The Canadian-based trotter drew post six in his $153,250 division of Saturday’s Stanley Dancer Memorial for 3-year-old male trotters at the Meadowlands Racetrack and will not have to contend with Hambletonian favorite Southwind Frank, who is in the opposite division. Marion Marauder finished second to Southwind Frank four times last season.
- Wise investment has paid off for Hannelore Hanover’s connections (Friday, July 15, 2016)
Most people in this day and age operate on a budget and understandably so. They want some bang for their buck and that is especially true in harness racing. Frank Baldachino, however, is emphatic that splurging on Hannelore Hanover and not sticking to the bottom line may have very well been the best investment he has ever made.