from the Meadowlands Media Relations Department

East Rutherford, NJ — The upcoming weekend at The Meadowlands is shaping up to be a cornucopia of delights for horseplayers and fans alike. With a dearth of racing opportunities in the region over the Christmas holiday the Racing Office staff found an embarrassment of riches in the form of declarations awaiting them when they came to work on Tuesday morning.

The volume of entries and reduced options for horsemen to get their horses raced compelled management to call an audible on the number of races and the post time for Friday and Saturday’s live race cards. Both nights were expanded to 14 races and the first race post time backed up to 6:35 p.m. which will continue throughout the winter meet.

There have also been changes made to the wagering menu which may be viewed with details available in an earlier release.

The beauty part is that every single one of the 28 races over the coming weekend drew a full field of 10 horses. That detail harkens back to the days of yore when winter racing at The Meadowlands was the most anticipated wagering opportunity of the year for Standardbred players.

On the racetrack the Friday evening twin features are a pair of $11,500 conditioned races, one for trotters and the other for mare pacers.

In the seventh race trot, Quick Deal (post one, Jimmy Marohn Jr.) and Watkins (post five, Brett Miller) hook up again after last week’s 1-2 finish. Post position advantage goes to Quick Deal this time after Miller and Watkins tracked that one throughout for a perfect pocket ride last week, capitalizing on their inside draw for the win.

The pacing mares in race eight are a diverse group with the contestants coming in from everywhere including Neon Sky N (post three, Anthony Napolitano) all the way from Australia and making her very first start state-side off a good Meadowlands qualifier. Cousin Mary (post eight, Brett Miller) is wrapping up a stellar 2017 campaign and comes in off a win against weaker.

The weather is to be unseasonably warm and the action downright hot at The Meadowlands this weekend. It’s a prime opportunity to recover from holiday spending and fatten up those recently depleted pockets.

Free program pages for selected wagers are available as always.

Remember, post time on Friday and Saturday will be 6:35 p.m.