from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — On the eve of his tenth birthday, Rair Earth makes a bid for his 50th career victory in Saturday night’s featured $35,000 winners over conditioned pace, carded as race 10 at the Meadowlands.

Rair Earth is a rare pacer who has been a long-term steady earner, averaging better than $150,000 each of the last three years toward a career total of $1,303,235. The 9-year-old comes into his last start of 2006 with a record of 49 wins, 30 seconds and 24 thirds from 152 starts. All horses celebrate their birthdays on January 1.

“When I first got him, I thought he was a $75,000 claimer, I thought he was under priced,” said owner Brian Nixon, who paid $62,500 to claim Rair Earth on June 15, 2001 at the Meadowlands. “The prior owners had a conflict in that class. I also thought he was a bit of a hot horse. He was a stone-cold leaver but 50 percent of the time he raced on the front end he was the first to hit the wire, too.

“When we claimed him, four or five weeks later he won a $100,000 claimer, and then two weeks later the open,” recalled Nixon, who owned the gelding with Ontario-based Aubrey Friedman until their partnership ended on October 1, 2006. “I said to myself — ‘This guy won’t see the claimers again anytime soon.’ We then took him to Canada, and he loved it there, particularly Woodbine. Nobody could leave the gate like he could. A typical race for him would be a sprint early, then a relaxed second quarter, then he’d get away from them again, accelerating the second turn. He’d open four to five lengths and even though they could close better than he could, he had too much on them and couldn’t catch him. He made a lot of money for a few years up there.”

Rair Earth has returned nearly $1.2 million since his acquisition in mid-June of 2001.

On Saturday night, Rair Earth, who will leave from post seven with Jonathan Roberts driving, is rated 15-1 in the morning line. The Ross Croghan trainee has five wins, four seconds and six thirds from 25 starts this year, banking $150,474. He paced his lifetime mark of 1:48.2 in 2006 at Woodbine.

“He doesn’t last the whole season like he used to,” acknowledged the British-born Nixon, who resides in Centerport, New York. “He’s been given lots of time off the past couple of seasons. He had a few minor injuries — he twice had a slight suspensory pull and we gave him the necessary six to eight months away.

“He sets his own level,” noted Nixon. “I don’t know if he can stay at this level but as long as he enjoys what he’s doing and gives a good account of himself, he’ll keep racing. We won’t cheapen him by dropping him way down in price or anything like that. Then I’d retire him and put him out in the backyard with B J’s Whirlwind.”

B J’s Whirlwind earned $954,463 for Nixon, racing from 1996 until his retirement in 2003. He now serves as a “teaser” for the mares on Nixon’s Long Island farm.

“I moved here permanently in 1980,” Nixon recalled. “I came to the Meadowlands when they first opened (in 1976). I was here on a visit from England. I then owned my first horse in 1986 and raced him at Roosevelt Raceway, a horse called Magnificent Mile. He went 0 for 40 on the year, but he must have gotten 35 checks. If I had any sense I would have gotten out right away.”

Nuclear Breeze bids for seventh straight

Nuclear Breeze, the unlikely star of the fall harness meet, will have a chance to expand his winning streak to seven in Saturday night’s tenth race at the Meadowlands.

The 4-year-old has been untouchable since the streak began on November 7 at Rosecroft Raceway. He captured the open pace on November 12 at Chester Downs and then started his four-race skein at the Meadowlands, including three sub-1:50 miles. The son of Nuclear High — Radiant Breeze now has 10 wins and two thirds from 15 starts and has banked $125,390 toward a career total of 22 wins, four seconds and five thirds from 39 starts and $224,632 in earnings.

Nuclear Breeze is the product of a mare and stallion both owned by his breeder-owner Thomas B. Cooke of Rockville, Maryland, who has been active in the harness racing industry for 17 years. Cooke, 57, is a Distinguished Teaching Professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business where he specializes in business law, ethics and federal income taxation.

A member of the Georgetown faculty since 1976, Cooke earned his Juris Doctor (1974), Master of Laws (1976) and Master of Laws in Taxation (1985), all at the Washington, D.C.-based university. His BA was awarded by Villanova in 1971. He was admitted to the bars in Florida, Maryland and the District of Columbia and his court privileges include the United States Supreme Court.

Around the Meadowlands for December 29, 2006

The Meadowlands Racing Insider talks to a quartet of top trainers about their Dan Patch Award finalists and their plans for 2007 on this weekend’s show.

The online program features interviews with Ron Gurfein on Possess The Magic, George Teague, Jr. on Total Truth and Isabella Blue Chip, Blair Burgess on Glidemaster and Jerry Silverman on Glowing Report.

Visit www.thebigm.com and click the Meadowlands Insider link.

Trainer John McDermott has a trio of starters on Saturday night’s program and shared his impressions.

In the fifth race, he sends out Global Scale. “I’m baffled,” McDermott said. “It happens. Sometimes you just cannot figure a horse out. It’s happened to me before. Claiming off the Burkes is not an easy thing to do. They are a top outfit. I’ll just have to wait and see.”

Another recent claim — for $75,000 — was Armbro Acquire in the eighth race. “That last quarter last week was maybe the most amazing I’ve ever seen by a horse,” he noted. “Armbro Acquire was coming home in 25 and change and made a break, and recovered to beat the horses who had passed him already. Dan Dube did a great job of gathering him up and getting him straightened out.”

McDermott’s 12th race entrant is Seventh Evan. “He’ll be coming around,” he said. “He’s due for a good effort.”

Winning a divisional championship at two is not always a sign of success at three for trotters. Donato Hanover, the top 2-year-old trotting colt of 2006, will attempt to buck the odds next year. Only three divisional champions of the last quarter century have repeated at three: Baltic Speed (1983-1984), Mack Lobell (1986-1987) and Malabar Man (1996-1997).

No Peter Haughton Memorial winner has captured the Hambletonian at three and only two Breeders Crown winning trotters at two — Mack Lobell and Malabar Man — have won the Breeders Crown at three.

The best trio of consecutive seasons for Hall of Famer Cat Manzi are the three just completed. For the years 2004 through 2006, he has amassed a combined $23.7 million in purses at ages 54 through 56. The 2005 HTA and USHWA Driver of the Year’s previous best stretch was in 1990 through 1992 when, at ages 40 to 42, he earned $15.5 million.

Trainer George Teague, Jr.’s $3.2 million campaign in 2006 was his richest ever, thanks to Total Truth (nearly $1.5 million), Western Ace and Isabella Blue Chip.

“I’m pretty pleased with Isabella Blue Chip,” he said. “The season was a long one for her, but it didn’t take a lot out of her which is going to help her coming back at three. She has a lot of tools. She’s real quick off the gate and that almost always guarantees her positioning. She’s got the attributes to have a big season next year. It looks like everyone is coming back. I’m looking forward to building on this year. Right now we’re already getting things ready for next year.”