from the Meadowlands Media Relations Department

East Rutherford, NJ — The Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace is a just little more than four weeks away (July 14), which means the final major prep before the Big M’s signature race — the C$1 million North America Cup for 3-year-old pacers at Woodbine Mohawk Park — is the highlighted simulcast event this Saturday night at the mile oval.

The 35th edition of Canada’s richest harness race will head to the gate at 10:40 p.m. Lather Up, Wes Delight and Stay Hungry were the winners of last week’s three eliminations. The NA Cup will have five Meadowlands Pace eligibles get behind the starting gate: Stay Hungry, American History, Hayden Hanover, Lost In Time and Nutcracker Sweet. It should be noted that supplementing to the Meadowlands Pace is still on the table for interested connections.

Also on the NA Cup program, which will have a mandatory High-5 payout on the last race (the carryover was at $160,000 at the conclusion of racing Tuesday), are the C$250,000 Armbro Flight for trotting mares (featuring Hannelore Hanover), C$266,000 Goodtimes for 3-year-old trotters, C$415,000 Fan Hanover for 3-year-old filly pacers and the C$370,000 Roses Are Red for pacing mares.

Post time for the 15-race program is 6:30 p.m.

Camel and Ostrich Derbies: On Saturday night at The Meadowlands, patrons will be in for something a little different as the sixth annual Camel and Ostrich Derbies are certain to bring out both the hardcore and the curious.

The camels and ostriches will race in between the live action, with the ostriches hitting the track after the third race and the camels after the eighth.

Try For A Quarter-Million: Friday night’s ninth and final race will offer harness racing’s pot of gold, as the carryover for the Big M’s Late 20-cent Jackpot Super High-Five now stands at $252,765.

As usual, the pools for the track’s signature Pick-4 have been big. During the month of June, the average pool has been $84,777. Both the Late JSH5 and Pick-4 sport low 15 percent takeouts.

Free program pages for the Meadowlands Pick-4, courtesy of TrackMaster, are available on the Meadowlands’ website (www.playmeadowlands.com) and on the handicapping section at www.ustrotting.com.

Live racing at the Meadowlands is this Friday and Saturday. Post time is 7:15 p.m.

Coming attractions:

June 23: The Meadowlands’ Summer Wine Festival takes place with local wineries from New York and New Jersey participating. There will be more than 25 total producers–wineries. For complete information, go to www.playmeadowlands.com.

June 30: College students can enter to win one of ten $1,000 college scholarships sponsored by Jeff and Paula Gural’s Allerage Farm. Those showing a valid college ID will receive a voucher good for a $5 wager as well as a free program.

There will also be a handicapping contest that night for those 18-30 years of age and the guaranteed prize pool of $5,000 is also being sponsored by the Gurals.

July 7: It’s Fan Appreciation Night, and it’s also wiener take all, as the Big M hosts its first annual Wiener Dog Races. For those who own a dachshund and want to enter, go to http://playmeadowlands.com/uploadedFiles/wiener_racing_sign-up_sheet.pdf.

At the conclusion of the races, stay for a fantastic fireworks display. There will be beer and food specials all night long.

There is a special early post time of 6:35 p.m. The featured event are the eliminations for the Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace.

July 14: The Meadowlands’ signature event, the Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace, takes center stage. Post time is 6:35 p.m.

Aug. 4: Harness racing’s signature event, the $1 million Hambletonian, brings the best 3-year-old trotters to not only the Big M, but to a national television audience (on the CBS Sports Network). Post time is noon for harness racing’s biggest day.