Washington, PA — Here is this week’s Meadows Monday Memo.

NEARLY 70 FRESHMEN TO DEBUT TUESDAY
The entry box for Tuesday’s qualifiers had 97 names in it this morning at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows, with nearly 69 of those belonging to freshmen. Some 31 of the freshmen making their debut are trained by Ron Burke. There will be a total of 16 qualifiers on Tuesday, with races 5-16 exclusively for 2-year-olds. The races will be shown live on the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association’s Facebook page. Note that qualifier post time for the rest of the summer has been moved to 10:30 a.m.. Among the 2-year-olds that were purchased at auction last fall, the highest-priced yearling purchase was the Downbythesesaside colt Swingtown, a $160,000 purchase from the Ohio Selected Jug sale by the Burke Stable. The colt will compete in race 12 on Tuesday. A pair of $9,000 yearling purchases will also qualify on Tuesday, Bell Hall (by Cantab Hall, Wilbur Yoder Stable, race 11) and Dublins Angel (by Enterprise, Karen Fread Stable, race 13).

TOP TROTTERS MEET THURSDAY
The feature race on the Thursday program will be a nine-horse Open Trot, for a purse of $21,200. Good Feeln To Know, a recent claim by the Nick Kozar Stable, will rise to the top level for the first time after a career-best 1:52.4 victory last week in conditioned company. Tequila Talkin, one of the top trotters in the region last year, returns to action after two months off, while Joygo, a winner of $80,000 last year in just 20 starts, makes his 2024 debut. They are joined by Emerald’s Legacy, who trotted in 1:51.4 in the Maxie Lee at Harrah’s Philadelphia in his most recent start but draws post nine, along with five other challengers. The Open Trot is carded as race 11 on Thursday.

SPECIAL POST TIME SATURDAY
The Meadows will have a special post time of 11:30 a.m. this Saturday (June 8), which is Belmont Day. Post times on Wednesday and Thursday remain 12:45 p.m., while Friday’s “under the lights” card starts at 5:10 p.m. Saturday racing returns to its regular 12:45 p.m. post next week, June 15.