from the Meadowlands Media Relations Department

East Rutherford, NJ — A once-in-a-generation horse will race at Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment Friday night (Nov. 21) at 7:15 p.m. White Bliss, a registered white Standardbred, will make his second career start in Friday’s first race.

The race kicks off a championship weekend at The Big M featuring the $5.5 million Breeders Crown, a 12-race series that annually helps determine harness racing’s year-end champions.

Svanstedtstable.com photo

White Bliss will make his second career start in Friday’s first race.

White Standardbreds make up less than one percent of the entire breed. In fact, the odds of White Bliss being born completely white was a 1 in 200,000 longshot since his parents were both bay or brown in color. White Bliss is the first white Standardbred born to bay-colored parents in North America since 1998.

“We are delighted that White Bliss can make his final start of the season at The Meadowlands,” said Swedish owner Tristan Sjoberg. “Due to a bout of colic and then illness he has made his debut very late in the season, but he has improved with each qualifier.”

White Bliss was purchased at the 2013 Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg, Pa., for an impressive $240,000 by Sjoberg, who bought the horse as a Christmas present for his mother.

Trained by fellow Swede Ake Svanstedt, White Bliss finished third in his first career race on Nov. 11 at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.

“He was boxed in for most of his debut race, but showed an impressive turn of speed in the lightning lane on the home stretch,” explained Sjoberg. “We are hoping that he can develop further over the winter months and we have set our sights on most of the major stakes races in 2015. After Friday he heads down to Florida to work on his tan for a few months before training for the 3-year-old season starts in earnest. In the stable at Legend Farm, he is placed right next to Sebastian K so I hope ‘Seabass’ has given Bliss some tips how to run fast.”