East Rutherford, NJ — With only one favorite scoring during the four MADC event at The Meadowlands, the action was hot on Friday (December 9) night.

In the first race on the card, it was a wire-to-wire score for Ferdinand A (James Slendorn), but he did have some challengers in the stretch.   It was the British invader Ryan Inglis who took dead aim at the leader in the stretch, aboard Gotta Minute N, but came up a neck short of victory.  Just behind these top two was Mv Ok Palacio Br (David Glasser), who rounded out the trifecta.  The mile went in 1:53.1.  The 10-year-old gelding is co-owned by the winning driver and trainer, James Slendorn and Kelvin Harrison, both out of NJ.

The fourth race almost saw back-to-back wire-to-wire victories, but Thndrfrmthethron N (Neil Glasser) couldn’t maintain his stamina to the finish, ending up second by two lengths behind Katana (Tony Beltrami), while the post time favorite, Rockabilly Charm (Joe Lee) ended up third.  This mile was timed in 1:54.4.  The 4-year-old gelding is owned and trained by Alexandra Goldin, out of New Jersey.

The sixth race on the card told a totally different story, as the top three finishers got away seventh, eighth, and ninth at the first call.  It featured five horses in the outer flow just after the quarter pole and in the end, it was a sprint to the finish that had Cheyenne Ryan Lee (Joe Lee), who ended up a length winner over Camlachie Chrome (Cote Keim), while the post time favorite, Whammer Jammer (Slendorn) who rounded out the trifecta.  This mile was timed in a solid 1:53.1.  The 7-year-old gelding is owned by Antoinette Bencivenne out of PA and gave a training double on the night in the MADC to Alexandra Goldin.

The eighth race and final MADC event featured the most exciting race on the card, with an epic stretch duel.  Prince Mcardle N (Newton “Yogi” Sheridan) sizzled his way to the top through ambitious fractions for the first two quarters of :26 and a half in 54.2.  He still had plenty left in the tank but as the field entered the stretch, pocket sitter T Dog (Michael Kimelman), tipped off the leader and looked to be going right on by, but these two battled all the way down the stretch and at the finish, it was T-Dog who prevailed a nose victory over a game horse with Sheridan aboard.  Good Deal (Joe Lee) finished third in this exciting race.   The 3-year-old gelding is co-owned by Kimelman and his other family members, Olivia, Oscar, and Sara, all out of New York and is also trained by the wining driver himself!!

What made this race even more special was the final time of 1:50.3, which was one of the fastest amateur races in North American history.  He was just 2/5ths of a second off the record, which happened earlier this year.  In fact, the top 2 sub 1:51 miles both occurred in 2023.  What will 2024 bring?  A sub 1:50 mile in the MADC?

The MADC will be back next Friday night for more exciting harness racing action.  Post time is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.