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

RACING SCHEDULE
We are now 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.

NOMINATION DEADLINE APPROACHES
The Meadows’ first set of spring series events will begin in early March, but nominations for the 3- and 4-year-old series have a deadline of this Wednesday (Feb. 15). For more information, follow this link.

WRENN TAKES THE LEAD
For the first time in his career, driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr is atop the standings at The Meadows in wins. Wrenn won seven races last week, giving him a total of 44 for the season, two more than perennial leading driver Dave Palone. Jeremy Indof is still off to the best start of his career, with 32 wins through the first six weeks of the year. By comparison, just two years ago, he won 72 races for the entire season. Driver Dan Charlino is off to a strong start as well, winning 26.9 percent of his drives (seven of 26). He has a UDR rating of .376, second only to Wrenn (.426).

99-1 WINNER
The highest-priced winner of the year is now Creatine Storm a 3-year-old Creatine gelding that won this past Wednesday as a 99-1 shot. Owner/trainer David Kuzara took the drive himself, working his way to the lead just past the first quarter in a NW1 trot, and going on to win by a half-length. In most cases, a 99-1 winner is usually higher, because the toteboard can’t show anything larger than a 99. But in this case, it was accurate, as Creatine Storm was sent off at exact odds of 99.80 to 1. Kuzara recently returned to racing at The Meadows, as he has spent much of his career traveling the nation as a collegiate gymnastics coach.

LEE JOINS TOP FIVE
Trainer Gerald Lee Jr. has joined the top-five ranks among conditioners after a strong week. He now has seven wins, tied for fifth best, among 27 starters. The three-way tie for fifth includes Norm Parker (seven for 27) and Justin Pirillo (seven for 28). Ron Burke still leads the way with 28 wins, followed by Dirk Simpson (24), Stacey Currie (16) and Brandon Presto (13).