from Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — The standardbred made its anticipated return to the one mile oval in East Rutherford, New Jersey Thursday morning for the first round of qualifiers leading into the 2013 racing season.

Lisa Photo

Qualifiers take place in front of the new Meadowlands grandstand rising in the background.

The eleven qualifiers were choc-full of horses gearing up for the lucrative winter late closing program at the Meadowlands.

Leading the charge were a pair of Tom Canelliere trainees, Special T Rocks (won in 1:54.4) and Western Shore (won in 1:52.2), who figure to both be pointing toward The Presidential. Should Western Shore partake in The Presidential, it will mark his sixth try in that event.

The first group of trotters pointing toward the Super Bowl Series also made appearances at the first qualifying session. The 1-2-3 finishers of the second race, Swiss Lightning, Helios and T G Rev are all eligible for the popular Super Bowl Trotting Series.

Live racing is set to kick off on Friday, December 28 with a brand new post time of 7:15 p.m. The opening night draw will be Saturday, December 22. The second night of racing features the 2013 Calendar giveaway on Saturday, December 29. That draw will take place Sunday, December 23.

The opening weekend condition sheet plus all other racing information can be found on Meadowlandsracetrack.com.