from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — A pair of familiar faces and a new star on the rise will step out in the $50,000 opening round of the Su Mac Lad Series for free for all trotters on Sunday afternoon at the Meadowlands. Post time for the daytime card is 1:10 p.m.

In the first division, 2004 Breeders Crown and Su Mac Lad champion HP Paque and 2002 Older Trotter of the Year Fool’s Goal will make their seasonal debuts.

Driven and trained by Trond Smedshammer, HP Paque is rated as the 9-5 morning line favorite from post two in the afternoon’s third race. The eight-year-old son of Tabor Lobell won five of 16 starts in 2004 for $606,725 toward a lifetime total of $1.5 million for Florida-based owners Timo H. Yli Panula and August Fredrik Miedel.

“HP Paque was a little heavy in his qualifier (finishing second by a head on March 12),” Smedshammer said. “But at this age (eight), he doesn’t need a lot of work or time. He’ll need a start probably. He’s older now.”

Fool’s Goal, a two-time Breeder’s Crown and three-time Titan Cup champion, will start from post five with driver-trainer Jim Doherty in the sulky. Now age 10, Fool’s Goal needs $6,000 to reach the $3 million mark in career earnings. The Armbro Goal gelding won six of 18 starts last season and earned $361,700 for owners Bruce McElven of Pemberton, New Jersey and Ronald Allen of Southampton, New Jersey.

Chucaro Ahijuna, an eight-year-old Argentinean-bred stallion, is tabbed as the 9-5 favorite in the second division after sweeping Pompano Park’s Mack Lobell Series. He will start from post five with driver Kevin Wallis in the afternoon’s fifth race.

The son of Noble Speedster is the world’s fastest double gaited Standardbred and the United States Trotting Association’s Horse of the Month for February. Chucaro Ahijuna has won three of his six starts on the trot this season and set a 1:53.3 all-age track record in the $80,000 Mack Lobell Final at Pompano on February 26. He surpassed the former mark of 1:54.1 set by Mack Lobell himself in 1987.

The Paul Bernardo trainee became a full-time trotter last year and has won 17 of 25 starts on the gait for the Berry Stables of Staten Island, New York. Bernardo brought the horse to the United States in July 2002 and initially raced him on the pace. Chucaro Ahijuna took a mark of 1:51.4 as a pacer on February 22, 2003 at Pompano. After he began 2004 with nine disappointing starts on the pace, Bernardo entered him in the open trot.

NHHC accepting entries for April 2 handicapping tourney

With the last of the qualifying tournaments to be completed this weekend, direct buy-in entries are currently being accepted for the National Harness Handicapping Championship, which features a $50,000 guaranteed first prize, on Saturday, April 2 at the Meadowlands.

Direct entry into the main event is $900 ($700 non-refundable entry fee plus $200 required betting card purchase at time of registration). The top 25 finishers in each participating NHHC qualifying tournament are eligible for a discounted entry, based on their order of finish, into the April 2 final.

Prize awards will be paid out to the Top 10 in the NHHC Final.

First prize is guaranteed at $50,000. Awards for second through tenth places, projected at $1,500 to $15,000, will be adjusted according to the actual number of entries and could be lower than advertised.

The cutoff for entries is Friday, April 1 at 10:00 p.m. Qualifier discounts cannot be combined. For questions regarding discounted entries, contact Amy Silver at asilver@njsea.com or (201) 842-5014.

Entrants into the NHHC must bet a total of 10 races: five mandatory races selected by the NHHC panel, consisting of one race from each of the following partner tracks — The Meadows, Northfield Park, Woodbine, Balmoral and Cal-Expo — and the player’s choice of five Meadowlands live races.

Entrants must bet exactly $20 per race and entrants can only bet on one horse per race. Contest wagers may be either win, place or a combination of the two, but the amount wagered must equal $20 and must be on one horse only.

The winner of the NHHC will receive the title “National Harness Handicapping Champion,” the $50,000 guaranteed first prize, an airline voucher from Continental Airlines good for two tickets anywhere in the continental USA, a guest appearance on the Fox Sports Net’s Racing from the Meadowlands show, and have his or her handicapping picks and photo posted on the Meadowlands website every Saturday for the remainder of the year.

For further information, visit the NHHC home page at: www.thebigm.com/nhhc.asp.