Largeandincharge ships in for Complex Series
January 8, 2004,from the Meadowlands Publicity Department
Largeandincharge, who blows into New Jersey for Friday night’s opening round of the Complex Series at the Meadowlands, is part of Chicago-based trainer Joe Anderson’s rebuilding process.
“We’ve made a huge investment,” said Anderson. “We built a new 110-acre training center in Crete, Illinois. We put in a five-eighths mile track, a swimming pool, an Equi-Cizer, the barns and the stalls. We’ve spent the last couple of years totally concentrating on getting a facility so that we could be more in control of our own destiny. It has taken a lot of time and money to get it done.
“Now that it’s complete, this year we’re planning on buying and claiming more horses, and getting our stable back to where we were two or three years ago,” he noted. “We’re rebuilding. We’ve got about 55 horses here. My son, Ryan is driving everything for me and he works with me. I’ve also got 10 horses in Florida with Gary Baker.
“When I stayed at a training center for 11 years, I could have bought this place for the money I spent in stall rent,” the 53-year-old native of Chattanooga, Tennessee said “The day I got up and walked out was like leaving an apartment. Now we have our own place, and we’re very happy with it. We called it Double Dakota, and it kind of stuck.
John Leahy and I own it, and the first horse we had together was Falcon Dakota, who made well over a million dollars. He was a great horse for us.”
In addition to Falcon Dakota, Anderson’s top horses in recent years have included The Big Dog, Ohyouprettything, Color Me Best, CA Connection, Rons Girl, Popcorn Penny, Jules Jodoin, Million Dollar Bye, Pacific Flight N, Masterofhisdomain, Western Paradise and Rattle And Rock. Largeandincharge may have a chance to move into the role of an Anderson Stable star.
“I’m sending down Largeandincharge to see how he measures up,” Anderson explained. “He’s a pretty good horse. Largeandincharge didn’t race much as a two-year-old, and basically he’s had some of the problems young horses have, so we took our time with him. I raced him last year in some of the Kentucky Sires Stakes, and he’s kind of stepped to the forefront. He made it up to the free for all ranks here [Chicago]. He raced there [Meadowlands] in November [29th] and actually didn’t race that badly.
“He had upper respiratory problems,” he noted. “I had some problem with him shutting his air off, and in that race he ran up on the horse in front of him, tucked his head and shut his air off. Then, he didn’t quite finish as a well as he could. He already had the palate surgery, and after that race we scoped him and he had a lot of inflammation. He bled, so he will be racing on Lasix for the first time on Friday, and I think it will help him.”
Largeandincharge posted eight wins, eight seconds and two thirds in 26 starts in 2003, banking $100,552 for the ownership team of Anderson, Leahy and Jayne Cummins. The homebred son of The Big Dog – Kiddin’onthesquare drew the rail in race nine, the second of three $20,000 Complex Series prelims. The four-year-old is rated 5-1 in the morning line with Jim Morrill Jr. in the sulky.
“We sort of changed our format a bit,” Anderson explained. “We went from buying a lot of young horses to where we stand a couple of our own stallions now, and, of course, we’re doing our own breeding. We stand The Big Dog and Big Tom. The Big Dog’s first crop are four-year-olds, and Big Tom’s first crop are yearlings this year, and we’re excited about them. We’ve also been fortunate over the years to gather a collection of some very nice mares. So, we’ve been breeding them to Grinfromeartoear, Western Hanover and others.”
Largeandincharge will have this Friday and next Friday to earn enough in the series to advance to the $100,000 estimated Complex Final on January 24 at the Meadowlands. He is also eligible to the Exit 16W Series, which begins on February 6.
In addition to three divisions of the Complex Series – carded as races five, nine and 11 – Friday night’s 12-race program also includes a $40,000 open trot [sixth race] and a $40,000 mares open pace [tenth race].
NEW ROOMS PROVIDE A BIT OF HEAVEN FOR SERIOUS HORSEPLAYERS
A little bit of horseplayers’ heaven is now open at the Meadowlands. The VIP Teletheater and VIP Room debuted for their invited guests on Friday, January 2 and have been warmly received.
Located on the east side of the Paddock Level, the two new rooms are dedicated to meeting the needs of the elite members of the track’s Big M Club.
The VIP Teletheater is a 3,690 square foot non-smoking room, with 102 spacious workstations, each featuring a 13-inch television and outlets for self-bet terminals. A video wall offers the full menu of live and simulcasting options on 12 60-inch monitors and 16 36-inch monitors. Seven teller windows and six wall-mounted self-service machines are available. Internet access is offered on three computer desks.
The VIP Room is a separate 2,660 square foot space, accessible through a security-coded entrance door for the top level of Big M Club members. The VIP Room features smoking and non-smoking areas divided by a center bar area. The room offers 61 television monitors, including 32 32-inch sets, six 27-inch sets, 18 13-inch sets and five 13-inch wall-mounted flat panel screens. Capacity for the room is 60 guests, who can occupy various seating options, including 12 desks with 13-inch monitors. The room also features six teller windows, a computer desk with Internet access, two restrooms, service kitchen and concierge. Admission to both rooms is by invitation only to selected Platinum and Diamond level members of the Big M Club
“The BIG M Club has helped us to better identify our best customers and target rewards towards them that will increase their frequency of attendance and wagering,” said Meadowlands Vice President and General Manager Chris McErlean “Our newest areas for our best customers reflects our continuing commitment to provide our guests with top accommodations and services in order to make the Meadowlands their number one choice for wagering.”|
The BIG M Club currently has about 5,000 active members and last year nearly 30 percent of total Meadowlands wagering [about $160 million in 2003] was wagered through the program. Guests earn points for every wager made through the BIG M Club and can use those points for items such as free wagers, handicapping materials and merchandise from Meadowlands sponsors.
MEADOWLANDS’ PICK 4 GUARANTEE RETURNS ON SATURDAY
Starting this week, the Meadowlands will guarantee the Pick 4 pool at $75,000 each Saturday night and at $100,000 for Winter Festival Night, February 21.
The popular wager, with a low take out of 15 percent, requires the selection of four consecutive winners for races sixth through nine. “Meadowlands Pick 4 offers handicappers everything they want in a value oriented wager – full fields, low takeout and high wagering pools,” said Meadowlands Vice President and General Manager Chris McErlean. “Combine that with our ultra competitive Saturday night race cards and this wager stacks up as one of the best offered by any racetrack – harness or thoroughbred – in North America.”
Pick 4 wagering and the large pools associated with it have produced substantial payoffs. The Saturday night Pick 4s in 2003 averaged nearly $77,000 in handle and $7,200 in payouts. The highest Saturday night payoff in 2003 was $32,915 on May 24.
The minimum wager for a Pick 4 is $2 although $1 wheels and part wheels are also available.