Big M back with a bang as the Crown comes to town

East Rutherford, NJ — When live harness racing makes its return to The Meadowlands this Friday (Oct. 22), there won’t merely be some ripples in the trotting and pacing waters, but rather a giant wave, as the Breeders Crown will make its long-awaited return to The Big M for the first time since 2016.

The Meadowlands’ Fall Championship Meeting kicks off Friday at 6:20 p.m. with eliminations for 2-year-olds of each sex and gait in the spotlight. Then, less than 24 hours later, 3-year-olds and older horses will take center stage on a Saturday (Oct. 23) elimination-laden card that has a special early post time of noon.

One week later, all 12 divisions for horses of all ages, sexes and gaits will compete for purses totaling $7.2 million over the course of the weekend. On Friday (Oct. 29) at 6:20 p.m., the four finals for 2-year-olds will take place, then on Saturday (Oct. 30), a total of eight championship events will be contested on the mile oval, with the four races for 3-year-olds and four dashes for the older horses topping the bill with a second consecutive early Saturday post time of noon.

“The Meadowlands has been the scene of many of the greatest Breeders Crown races in the history of the sport,” said track Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Jason Settlemoir. “And we are honored and thrilled to kick off this incredible fall meet with the return of the Crown, which begins a sensational five-week stretch, which includes the Kindergarten Finals (on Nov. 13) before culminating with Fall Final Four/TVG Finals Night (on Nov. 20).”

Double Vision: The Breeders Crown will get plenty of live television exposure on Saturday (Oct. 30) as Fox Sports 2 (FS2) and SportsNet New York (SNY) will both provide extensive Breeders Crown Finals coverage.

FS2’s coverage will take place from noon-4:30 p.m. while SNY’s broadcast will go from 3-5:30 p.m.

Big M TV’s Jessica Otten will provide pre-race thoughts and post-race interviews on the telecast.

Super Supplements: The connections of four horses put their money where their mouths are, ponying up some big green to supplement their horses to the Breeders Crown.

Jujubee, the Kentucky Futurity champion whose winning time of 1:49.3 equaled the fastest of the season for a sophomore trotter, is in the 3-year-old colt and gelding trot while Katie’s Lucky Day, off a thrilling nose win over division leader Bella Bellini in the Kentucky Filly Futurity, will go in the 3-year-old filly trot.

Scandinavian import Ecurie D, a winner in 1:50.4 in his first-ever start in the U.S. when he took the Allerage Trot, has paid his way into the Open Trot while early-season sensation Racine Bell, who defeated division top dog Lyons Sentinel earlier this year at The Meadowlands in 1:48.1 in the Kissin In The Sand, will take on her rival again in the Mares Pace.

All supplements cost their connections $62,500, with the exception of Racine Bell, whose pay-in check was written in the amount of $31,250.

Top Ten At The Big M: This looks like a remake of the “Magnificent 7.”

The weekly Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll that came out Tuesday revealed the current Top 10 in the harness game. They are Lyons Sentinel, Venerable, Test Of Faith, Allywag Hanover, Jujubee, Niki Hill, Atlanta, Hot Mess Express, Captain Corey and Manchego.

The top seven horses in the poll will all be racing in the Breeders Crown at The Meadowlands either in eliminations this week or have opted for a bye to next week’s finals. Hot Mess Express (ineligible) will not race in the Crown and Captain Corey (injured) and Manchego (retired) are done for the year.

Get Ya Free Programs Here! Talk about a great deal! Free program pages for every race of every Meadowlands race card are always available. All one has to do is go to playmeadowlands.com to access the no-cost past performances.

$100,000 Guaranteed: One of the more exciting wagers at The Meadowlands is the 50-cent Pick-4, and fans of the popular perplexing puzzle will get to shoot for a nice pot, as each of the two times the bet is offered this weekend — beginning in race nine — there will be a guaranteed pool of $50,000.

Low Takeouts, High Expectations: Here are the popular Meadowlands’ wagers that offer a low 15 percent takeout on a nightly basis. Bettors should be aware that this weekend, the programs have 12 races, instead of the usual 13:

Race 1: 20-cent Pick-5
Race 3: 20-cent Survivor Pick-7
Race 6: 20-cent Pick-6
Race 9: 50-cent Pick-4
Race 12: 10-cent Hi-5/Pentafecta

Trick Or Tweet: Everything Meadowlands is available by going on Twitter. You can check in with the Big M team for early changes, racing information and staff selections by going to @themeadowlands or #playbigm.

On race nights, stay in touch with Jessica Otten (@JessicaOtten1), Dave Brower (@eedoogie), Dave Little (@DaveLittleBigM), Ken Warkentin (@kenvoiceover), Shades Demsky (@ShadesOnRacing) and Edison Hatter (@Edison_1999_).

Who Does Brower Like? For expert selections and analysis of every Big M card, check out track oddsmaker Dave Brower’s race reviews.

For Brower’s input, which is generally available 48 hours before every card, go to playmeadowlands.com, then click on the “handicapping” tab and go to “race reviews.”

Bettors’ Cup Runneth Over: The always popular simulcast of Thoroughbred racing’s Breeders’ Cup will take place at The Meadowlands on Friday (Nov. 5) and Saturday (Nov. 6).

The 14-race event — which will take place at California’s Del Mar Racetrack — will have five races Friday (post time, 2:55 p.m.; first BC race, 5:50 p.m.) before the final nine take place Saturday (post time, 1:15 p.m.; first BC race, 3:05 p.m.). The featured event — the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic — has a post time of 8:40 p.m.

How To Get In The Game: The best way to experience the rush of racing on the track and at the windows is to go to The Meadowlands, but for those who can’t make the trip, they can still tune in and get their action.

One of the best ways to watch what’s happening at The Big M — as well as all other races at venues around the country and the world — is to get a subscription to Roberts Television Network. All you need to do is go to rtn.tv for an affordable way to bring the action to your desktop, laptop, TV, smartphone or other device.

A good way to get your bets in is to use the Television Games Network (tvg.com) or your favorite Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) site.

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