Gordon Waterstone

Lexington, KY — Moments after his trainee Night Hawk finished second in the second of two Meadowlands Pace eliminations last Saturday night (July 9) at The Meadowlands, trainer Brian Brown thought to himself that now he will need to hold his breath awaiting the post position draw for the $600,000 final this Saturday (July 16), hoping his colt didn’t draw post 10 in the open draw among the non-winners.

At the time Brown wasn’t aware that a format change had been made for this year’s Pace final draw and that Night Hawk was guaranteed a spot on the starting gate no farther out than post seven.

“I didn’t know about it until after the race but before they drew,” said Brown. “I didn’t know anything about it but I was thrilled, even before we drew. Knowing I’m not drawing worse than the seven was a relief.”

In an effort to arguably make eliminations more competitive, there have been several different ways used to draw posts for the final over the past several years. Some races gave the connections of the elimination winners the right to choose their post before the others went to an open draw for the remaining spots, while some had the winners drawing from posts one through six before the others drew for posts.

For this year’s Meadowlands Pace, the two elimination winners — Beach Glass and Market Based — drew for posts one through six. The two second-place finishers — Night Hawk and Captain Cowboy — drew for posts seven and down, eliminating the positions drawn by the winners. Post eight was then added for the third-place finishers and post nine added for the fourth-place finishers. With only two spots then remaining — post 10 and the lone spot from the other nine that hadn’t been drawn — going to the fifth-place horses, that guaranteed one of the two fifth-place finishers would get the far outside post.

Trainer Brian Brown’s Night Hawk drew post three in Saturday’s Meadowlands Pace final. USTA photo.

“It’s nice to know that say you have a bad post in the elimination but do well and not win, you’re still not getting the eight, nine or 10 hole in the final,” said Brown, who finished second in the 2017 Meadowlands Pace with Downbytheseaside and third in 2019 with Workin Ona Mystery. “It is a relief. It still gives you a shot knowing you don’t have to draw bad and I like it.”

The current format was the brainchild of Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey first vice-president Bob Boni — 15 years in the making. Boni originally devised this format in late 2007, but it never got off the ground. Boni said he spoke to Meadowlands chairman Jeff Gural after last year’s Meadowlands Pace about his formula and Gural gave his approval.

“I think it makes for more balance and I don’t think anybody can complain,” said Boni. “There’s nothing worse than winning an elimination and then drawing outside. Like the Yonkers Trot (on July 1) where the two elimination winners drew the seven and eight. That’s not fair.

“On the other hand, I don’t want to give them the one and two and make it a $5 exacta. This gives you a little balance. It’s as simple as that. It gives somebody reason if they are down on the wire and it’s close for second instead of third, you’d rather be second. And now one of the fifth-place finishers can get lucky and draw inside…but one for sure will get the outside.”

Trainer Tony Alagna sent out four starters in the Meadowlands Pace elims and qualified two for the final: Caviart Camden, who finished fourth in the second elim and drew post two in the final, and I Did It Myway, who finished third in the first elim and drew post eight in the final.

Unlike Brown, Alagna became aware of the change in the draw format last year.

“I knew last year when (The Meadowlands) put a flier out that they were going to make changes, and I was all for it,” said Alagna. “I think that definitely the horses that do well in their elimination should have a little bit of an advantage. It’s very tough to be second and race great in your elimination and draw the 10 hole (for the final), so I’m not opposed to it at all.”

Interestingly, while the trainers are in favor of the format change, driver Yannick Gingras, who will direct elimination winner Beach Glass in the final, is not. Listed as the 7-5 morning-line favorite, Beach Glass drew post six in the final.

Beach Glass and Yannick Gingras put foes on notice with an impressive victory in a Meadowlands Pace elimination. Lisa photo.

“As far as this race, I’m happy with the draw,” said Gingras, who also currently serves as the SBOANJ’s third vice-president. “I just think that the way they did it, is that they want us to race more in the elimination, but I think it’s the complete opposite. Now, if you finish in the top three you are guaranteed one through eight, and one through eight realistically is not that bad. The worst-case scenario is that you get the eight, and that’s not that bad. All you want to do in the elimination is not end up getting the nine or 10 (in the final). I think this is counter productive.

“In the past, if you finished second you could draw the 10 hole, now if you finish second the worst you can get is the seven,” added Gingras, who won the 2012 Meadowlands Pace with A Rocknroll Dance and the 2020 renewal with Tall Dark Stranger. “Is that really that bad of a deal to finish second in the elimination? It’s not.”

The new format has been put into place for all Meadowlands-administered stakes requiring eliminations. The formula will not be used for any Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown administered stakes. Future races to use the new formula include the Peter Haughton Memorial and James Doherty Memorial, the Fall Final Four for 2-year-olds, and the new New Jersey Classic races in early September.

Click here to read the complete rules for this format.

Following is the field for the $600,000 Meadowlands Pace in post order with elimination drivers, trainers, and morning-line odds:

PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-ML Odds
1 – Captain Cowboy – Dexter Dunn – Ake Svanstedt – 8-1
2 – Caviart Camden – Todd McCarthy – Tony Alagna – 12-1
3 – Night Hawk – David Miller – Brian Brown – 4-1
4 – Market Based – Dexter Dunn – Nancy Takter – 5-1
5 – Early Action – Brian Sears – Joe Holloway – 8-1
6 – Beach Glass – Yannick Gingras – Brent MacGrath – 7-5
7 – Fourever Boy – Mike Wilder – Tim Twaddle – 10-1
8 – I Did It Myway – Andrew McCarthy – Tony Alagna – 10-1
9 – Mad Max Hanover – Tim Tetrick – Jake Leamon – 15-1
10 – Captainryanmichael – Brian Sears – Joe Pavia Jr. – 20-1