from the Meadowlands Media Relations Department

East Rutherford, NJ — Saturday is an all day and night affair at The Meadowlands with the Graduate Series for 4-year-old trotters on the track and the third annual Spring Beer Fest going on in the Backyard area of the trackside apron on Preakness Day.

The second jewel of the Triple Crown will be raced down route 95 at Pimlico Racecourse where Justify will attempt to continue his assault on that rare feat. The gates will open at 9:30 a.m. and the big race is scheduled for 6:48 p.m.

Highlighting the live Meadowlands card are some of the sport’s finest trotters, spread over two $50,000 Graduate division of what is the first of three legs culminating with the $250,000 (est.) final on July 7.

Last year’s top sophomore filly Ariana G makes her seasonal debut in the fifth race, facing a field of seven males including Yes Mickey who edged her in the 2017 Zweig Memorial. Ariana G has had a pair of useful qualifiers to prepare and has been pronounced fit and ready by her regular driver Yannick Gingras. Jimmy Takter trains the champion mare for Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld.

Division two, race seven, will be the first 2018 start of Hambletonian heat winner International Moni (Gingras) for the Moni Maker Stable and trainer Domenico Cecere. He’s also counting on qualifiers for form with a solid effort behind Ariana G in his most recent work.

The Beer Fest will be held in the Backyard and on the East Apron rain or shine and will open to the public at 4:30 p.m. for VIP admission. The VIP ticket is $75 and includes an additional one hour of sampling, exclusive VIP Tent beer samplings, and food. General Admission begins at 5:30 p.m. and is available in advance for $35 or at the door for $45.

Post time is 7:15 p.m.