East Rutherford, NJ — The return of the Breeders Crown to The Meadowlands was a rousing success as the total wager of $7,372,478 for the weekend of Oct. 29-30 established a new Meadowlands record for the series (in the two-day format) that originated in 1984, and exceeded the previous mark by nearly $1 million, which was set the last time the series stopped here in 2016.

No track in history has hosted more Breeders Crown finals than The Big M, which now has carded 103.

The betting bonanza began when wagering topped the $3 million mark at the mile oval for the first time since Hambletonian Day after $3,251,099 was pushed through the windows on the Friday night 13-race card. Play on the Breeders Crown events was especially vigorous, as a total of $1,396,843 was put in play on the four races, an average of $349,210 per dash.

Wagering on the eight Saturday finals was spirited throughout the day, as at least $316,162 was bet on each of the Crown races. The largest single-race total was the $457,657 pushed through the windows on the dramatic showdown between Perfect Sting and Charlie May in the 3-year-old colt and gelding pace.

Total wagering on the eight Crown races was $2,972,101, good for an average of $371,512 per dash.

Including the five overnight events, total betting on the 13-race program was $4,121,379, an all-time high for a single card in the history of the Crown when at The Big M.

“What more can you say about the loyal fans that support Standardbred racing?” said Big M Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Jason Settlemoir. “On short notice, with the post moved up six hours, the players wagered over $4.1 million. The final Saturday afternoon handle was almost 20 percent higher than the Saturday evening Breeders Crown handle at The Meadowlands in 2016. That’s a seismic increase and a wonderful culmination to a sensational weekend of exciting Breeders Crown races. Business was robust, with every one of the 12 Breeders Crown events handling more than $300,000.”

The year-end championship series was televised on two separate networks for a total of six hours. There was 3-1/2 hours of coverage on Fox Sports 2’s (FS2) national feed, plus, there was a 2-1/2 hour telecast on the regional network SportsNet New York (SNY), which is the home of the New York Mets.

The Breeders Crown races, which brought a combination of winning favorites and surprises, only served to muddy the waters in the race for Horse of the Year. Lyons Sentinel and Allywag Hanover, the two horses who arguably had the inside track on the trophy heading into last weekend, both tasted defeat while Test Of Faith and Niki Hill were super-impressive when scoring as popular post-time choices.

In addition, the winners of the four events for 3-year-olds will get invitations to the TVG finals and get a chance to take on older foes and bolster their resumes for a possible shot at Horse of the Year honors. The four winners were Perfect Sting (male pace), Jujubee (male trot), Test Of Faith (female pace) and Bella Bellini (female trot).

Fall Final Four/TVG Finals Night, which is the last major stakes card of the year and takes place on Nov. 20 at The Big M, will go a long way toward determining who will take home Horse of the Year honors.

“Breeders Crown Weekend at The Meadowlands was a tremendous success,” said Hambletonian Society President and Chief Executive Officer John Campbell. “The response from the horsemen and the competitiveness of the racing made for some of the most exciting races of the year. The betting handle was exceptionally strong, producing $7.3 million over the two nights. This all reflects the strength and popularity of the Breeders Crown brand.”

Top 10 Shuffle: Six Breeders Crown winners found themselves in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown weekly Top 10 Standardbred Poll Tuesday morning. Here is the Top 10 from the top down, with Breeders Crown winners bearing an asterisk (*):

Test Of Faith*, Jujubee*, Lyons Sentinel, Niki Hill*, Bella Bellini*, Allywag Hanover, Perfect Sting*, Venerable, Ecurie D DK* and Atlanta.

Over $400K For Charity: The Breeders Crown Charity Challenge, spearheaded by owner Marvin Katz, was another huge success during a weekend of huge successes, as almost $440,000 was raised for the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, John Theurer Cancer Center, Special Olympics New Jersey and encourage Kids Foundation.

Live Racing Sked: Live racing at The Meadowlands will continue through the end of the calendar year on a Friday-Saturday basis with a first-race post time of 6:20 p.m. There is one exception. There will be no live racing on Dec. 24 and 25.

Big M TV’s live pre-game show begins each night at 5:47 p.m.

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

$100,000 Guaranteed: The Meadowlands’ 50-cent Pick-4, which is available on every live race card beginning on races six and 10, offers a $50,000 guaranteed pool.

Last weekend, the Early Pick-4s were extremely popular with players, as on Friday, $150,500 was poured into the pot, while on Saturday, another $145,797 was pushed through the windows.

Many Low Takeout Opportunities: The Meadowlands offers bettors a half-dozen opportunities nightly to take advantage of wagers with a low 15 percent takeout, they are:

• 20-cent Pick-5: Race 1
• 20-cent Survivor Pick-7: Race 3
• 50-cent Pick-4: Race 6
• 20-cent Pick-6: Race 8
• 50-cent Pick-4: Race 10
• 10-cent Pentafecta/Hi-5: Race 13

Get Social: 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.”