Washington, PA – Here is this week’s Meadows Monday Memo.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
Hollywood Casino at The Meadows will race its regular fall schedule this week, with action on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Next week, there will be no live racing on Thanksgiving Day.
NEW DRIVERS
Three new faces have joined The Meadows’ driving colony in the past few cards. Justin Irvine has started making the trip from Ohio on a regular basis to compete. He has started picking up multiple catch-drives daily and has six wins in just 33 drives. Two newcomers from Kentucky, Zyler Maxwell and OD Johnson, also have recently made their local driving debuts. Both have been working with the Rob Laffoon Stable. Both drivers are 19 years old and have been racing in both Kentucky and Illinois.
BOOM, NO BOOM
Last Wednesday, two similarly named trotters competed at The Meadows. In the fifth race, Boom Chica Boom finished third in a filly and mare non-winners of four trotting event. Two races later, Chicka Boom competed in a non-winners of two trot, meaning that the duo could eventually end up in the same class. Both are 3-year-olds, yet there is no relation. Boom Chica Boom is sired by Greenshoe out of a Kadabra mare, and was bred in Canada. Chicka Boom is an Ohio-bred by Long Tom. Their names aren’t the only common link, however, as both are trained by local conditioner Rich Perfido.
THURSDAY FEATURE
Thursday’s feature race will be the $18,000 Open Handicap Trot, set as race one on the 14-race card. Winslow has been assigned post six in the six-horse field after winning last time by two lengths in 1:53 in the top level. The Dana Kahrig trainee, driven regularly by Aaron Merriman, is now 5-for-19 on the season.