Washington, PA — Here is this week’s Meadows Monday Memo.

RACING SCHEDULE
We are in our winter three-day-per-week racing schedule, Wednesday through Friday afternoons at 12:45 p.m. This schedule will remain in place through the end of March.

SUPERFECTA PAYOFFS
Superfectas at The Meadows have been paying well throughout the month of January. For the most recent week, the 39 races contested resulted in an average payoff of $270.50 per race for a 20-cent Superfecta ticket. We have had one Superfecta during January that was not hit, and the full net pool was carried over to the next race, which resulted in a significantly larger pool.

PANTALEANO POSTS STRONG WEEK
Jim Pantaleano posted four wins on the Friday card, his best day at The Meadows since returning to near full-time local action. Driver Dan Charlino is also putting up good numbers to start the season, winning three races and finishing in the top-three five times in his first 10 drives of the year. Trainer Brady Jenson, who has raced at The Meadows the past couple of winters after spending his summers in Minnesota, is starting to do more driving. He has won two of 10 local drives so far this season and sports a UDR of .311.

PRESTO STABLE RACING WELL
Local trainer Brandon Presto, who posted 62 wins in 2022, has won seven of his first 36 starts in 2023. His horses have been in the top-three in 17 of 36 starts, for a UTR of .293. His seven wins put him fourth in the standings behind Ron Burke (14), Dirk Simpson (10), and Stacey Currie (9). Currie had another strong week, including a Friday afternoon $20,000 claiming event, where her two horses, Caviart Val and Newbie, finished first and second.

POST POSITION FIVE vs. THE RAIL
At many tracks, the more inside you draw, the better you finish. At The Meadows, the trend for many seasons in a row is that post five ends up winning the most races. That trend is continuing in 2023, with post five winning at a 16.4 percent clip. Post position one, on the other hand, is only winning at an 11.1 percent rate, which is only sixth best right now. By comparison, another five-eighths-mile track, Miami Valley in Ohio, is seeing horses from post one win at a 19.9 percent rate. It certainly presents a challenge for handicappers that see a horse drawing inside and expecting it to be an advantage.