from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

[East Rutherford, NJ] – Ritch Art [$2.80, $2.40, $2.10] hung on by a head for his fourth straight victory at the Meadowlands in Sunday afternoon’s fourth race, a $12,500 division of the Senior Trendsetter Series for four-year-old pacers.

Sent off as the 2-5 favorite, Ritch Art paced the mile in 1:53 with Cat Manzi in the sulky. The four-year-old son of Perfect Art has won all four of his starts this season and was a wire-to-wire winner in 1:52.3 in the opening round of the Senior Trendsetter Series on February 8.

Liberal Arts [$4.20, $2.10] capitalized on a second-over trip to just miss nipping Ritch Art at the wire. Global Village [$2.10] sat a pocket trip and closed along the rail to finish a half-length back in third.

Darby Miller, who divides his stable between Illinois and New Jersey, took over the training duties for Ritch Art on January 15. The stallion is owned by Northfield Park’s 2003 leading driver, Greg Grismore, and Thomas A. Cummins of Celina, Ohio. Ritch Art won five of 18 starts during his sophomore campaign in 2003. Sunday’s victory upped his career bankroll to $63,927.

The other Senior Trendsetter winners were: Top Flight [$3.40, race three], Domination [$8.60, race five] and What’s Demotta You [$9.80, race six]. The top 10 money-earners in the first two weeks of series action advance to the $87,400 final next Sunday, February 22.

ABATE SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCED FOR 2004

For the third consecutive year, children of full or part-time employees of the Meadowlands Racetrack will be eligible to apply for the $5,000 Vincent Abate Memorial Scholarship.

The scholarship commemorates the memory of harness racing fan Vincent Abate, who lost his life in the World Trade Center terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

Abate’s longtime friend Craig Lipka, who races as the Hill View Enterprises of Cresskill, New Jersey, organized the scholarship, which will be awarded annually through 2011 to the son or daughter of an employee of the Meadowlands Racetrack or Freehold Raceway.

Lipka made a 10-year commitment of at least $5,000 a year each for both the scholarship and the Harness Horse Youth League, a series of camps where kids learn to care for and drive trotting-bred ponies.

In 2003, a total of $10,000 in scholarships were distributed to six New Jersey students. For the second straight year, Jaclyn Reicen of West New York, the daughter of Jacob Reicen of the Meadowlands television department, won a $5,000 award. She is a sociology major with minors in biology and chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Five additional $1,000 scholarships were handed out to Stevens Institute of Technology computer engineering major Michelle Attilio of Spring Lake Heights, daughter of shop steward David Attilio; Fordham University filmmaking major August Barber of Edison, son of Pegasus captain Frank Barber; Drexel University computer engineering major Donald Bielak of Freehold, son of Freehold Raceway publicity director Donald Bielak; Kean College graphic arts major Christopher Cobo of Lyndhurst, son of Meadowlands parking attendant Angel Cobo, and Ramapo College psychology major Melissa Hill, a repeat winner from Lyndhurst, who is the daughter of Meadowlands pari-mutuel clerk Anthony Hill.

In 2002, the scholarship’s inaugural year, Lipka and the group of Abate’s friends who are bankrolling the fund, selected three award winners, dispersing a total of $8,000 in scholarships in the amounts of $5,000, $2,000 and $1,000.

In addition to Reicen and Hill, the 2002 winners included Ryan Gdovin, of Spring Lake Heights.

Lipka designated that the funding would go to the children of racetrack employees as these were the people with whom Abate enjoyed mingling. He loved to banter with everyone he met at the track – from waitresses to mutuel clerks to parking lot attendants. Lipka is working with the Harness Horse Youth Foundation [HHYF] to administer the program.

“There were several criteria for the scholarship – financial need, scholastic performance, extracurricular activities, plus they had to write an essay,” Lipka said.

In addition to Vincent Abate, who was 44, the fund also honors the memory of Vinny’s brother, Andrew Abate, 37, and their friend, Michael Uliano, 42. All three brokers worked for Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center.

The deadline for completed applications is April 30, 2004.

Applications are available in the Media Relations Department, on the NJSEA intranet [http://home/Employee_notifications/Abate%20Scholarship.pdf] or on the Meadowlands website [www.thebigm.com/abate_scholarship.pdf].

The completed form should be returned to: Harness Horse Youth Foundation, 16575 Carey Road, Westfield, IN 46074.

For further information, call 317-867-5877, fax to 317-867-5896 or email hhyfetaylor@iquest.net.

PAIR OF CIGAR NIGHTS ON TAP IN PEGASUS

A pair of cigar night events will be held in Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands in March.

Former professional boxer Gerry Cooney will host a cigar night to benefit F.I.S.T. on Wednesday, March 10. The event includes a gourmet buffet dinner, open bar, a celebrity memorabilia auction and, of course, an exciting live card of harness racing. Tickets are $125 per person and can be purchased by calling 1-888-765-FIST (3478). F.I.S.T. is a non-profit foundation dedicated to providing treatment, counseling and career path assistance to fighters who lack the resources needed for a successful transition after prizefighting. For more information about F.I.S.T. visit the organization’s web site at www.helpboxers.org.

JR Cigar of Whippany, New Jersey, the world’s largest retailer and distributor of premium cigars, will host a cigar night on Wednesday, March 24. Tickets are $125 per person and include open bar and buffet.

They can be purchased by calling 1-800-572-4427.