from Meadowlands Media Relations

East Rutherford, NJ – Muscles Marinara and Istanbul were repeat winners in the second leg of the Hiram Woodruff Series for three and four-year-old trotters on Sunday afternoon at the Meadowlands.

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Muscles Marinara notched his fifth win this season in the first of the two $18,000 divisions of the Hiram Woodruff.

With Brian Sears in the sulky, Muscles Marinara [$2.80, $2.40] notched his fifth win this season in the first of the two $18,000 divisions, carded as the afternoon’s third race. Muscles Marinara worked his way to the lead in a leisurely opening quarter of 29.1 seconds then yielded willingly to RTJ along the backstretch. Muscles Marinara angled out of the pocket on the final turn and held off the late rush of Kerry Hanover [$8.00] and Indiancamp PA for a length victory in 1:55. RTJ went off stride in the stretch and finished fourth. There was no show wagering on the third race, which was scratched down to five starters.

The consistent son of Muscles Yankee has been first or second in seven of 12 starts this year for trainer Trond Smedshammer. Muscles Marinara increased her career earnings to $119,705 for the Gandolfo Stables of Saddle River, New Jersey and Lenny Zelin of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

After being parked-out the whole way, Istanbul [$6.60, $4.20, $4.00] got up in the final strides to win the fifth race Hiram Woodruff division by neck in 1:56. Donnegal [$6.00, $4.80] capitalized on a pocket trip to finish second, while the pacesetter Dream Alone [$4.40] faded to third.

Driven by Ron Pierce and trained by Jan Johnson, Istanbul scored his sixth win in his 14th start of the year. The four-year-old son of Pine Chip increased his lifetime earnings to $98,175 for the Arden Homestead Stable of Delhi, New York.

The estimated $52,750 Hiram Woodruff Final is Sunday, May 23.

MEADOWLANDS PICK 6 MOVING TO THURSDAYS, STARTING JUNE 3

The Meadowlands’ new Pick 6 is moving to Thursday nights, starting June 3.

The weekly wager was introduced on March 24 as a Wednesday night feature with a $50,000 guaranteed pool.

Through May 12, the average Pick 6 pool has been more than $72,000. The wager has had three carryovers in the first eight weeks and has produced an average payout for six of six winners of $27,950 for a $1 wager. The record Pick 6 payoff was $41,000 on May 5.

There is currently a $36,106 carryover going into the March 19 Pick 6.

“The introduction of the Pick 6 has exceeded our expectations,” said Meadowlands Vice President and General Manager Chris McErlean. “It is a challenging wager but with great value and rewards as evidenced by the payouts.”

The switch from Wednesday to Thursday nights will be made for a couple of reasons.

“Our partners in California will be shifting racing dates at Cal Expo to Thursday nights, and we want to continue to include the participation of that important market in the wager,” said McErlean.

“Also, in the summer months, our Thursday cards offer a better menu of races to incorporate in the wager.”

The $50,000 guaranteed Pick 4 will also move to Thursdays on June 3. The current Wednesday night Pick 4 has averaged a pool of $61,640 since March 24 and included a record $2 payout of $95,264 on March 24.