Benchmarks in wagering marked the final weeks of Meadowlands Racetrack's main 2010 Harness Meet
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The Hambletonian's global impact continued to grow in 2010, as record European wagering helped produce the third highest handle in harness history on August 7. Total all-source wagering on the 15-race card was $8,391,600, trailing only the $8.8 million wagered on the 2002 Hambletonian Day program and $9 million wagered in 2005.
International wagering was nearly $2.4 million; up sharply from the $1.97 million wagered on the 2009 simulcast. The Hambletonian was part of a seven-race bundle beamed to France, Monaco, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The first 10 races from the Meadowlands card were sent to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Malta. A crowd of 26,712 turned out to watch Muscle Massive edge Lucky Chucky in the $1.5 million Hambletonian. The attendance was an increase of nearly 4 per cent over the previous year and the highest since 2006.
Strong wagering also highlighted closing night of the meet on August 20. A quartet of stakes races and Pick 6 carryover in excess of $100,000 fueled the highest live and total handle figures for a Friday night in 2010. The $592,092 live handle $592,092 was the highest for a Friday card in three years (the best since $598,772 on May 4, 2007), while the $3,365,885 all sources was the highest since the $3,213,711 recorded on Friday, February 12. The Pick 6 carryover attracted a pool of $378,994. There were two winning tickets, each returning $142,769.
George Brennan punctuated his first Meadowlands driving title by winning his second consecutive $702,500 William R. Haughton Memorial with Shark Gesture on the final card. Brennan wrapped the meet with 247 victories from 1,250 starts and purse earnings of $5,019,523. Meadowlands newcomer Lou Pena swept the training title with 115 victories and just under $1.75 million in purses, while Larry Baron led all owners for the third straight year with 36 winners.
The $1 million Meadowlands Pace, the nation's richest pacing event, produced one of the season's most thrilling moments, as One More Laugh nailed Rock N Roll Heaven in the final strides for the victory. One More Laugh equaled the World Record for a three-year-old gelding on a mile track with a 1:49.4 clocking. His 28-year-old driver, Tim Tetrick, became the first to win the track's signature event twice before the age of 30. Tetrick won the 2007 edition with Southwind Lynx.
One More Laugh delivered Ray Schnittker his first Meadowlands Pace trophy and second million-dollar win in two years. The trainer won the Hambletonian with undefeated Deweycheatumnhowe in 2008. He became the sixth trainer in history to capture both the Pace and Hambletonian, joining the elite company of William Haughton, Ray Remmen, Chuck Sylvester, Steve Elliott and Blair Burgess.
Total wagering for the 2010 harness meet was $284,540,800 for 121 racing dates, a $2,351,576 average per card (vs. $2,399,856 per card for the 147-date meet in 2009).
Live harness racing will return to the Meadowlands on Saturday, October 23 for the start of a 17-day Fall Harness Meet. Live racing will be held Friday and Saturday nights through December 18.
2010 Meadowlands Leading Drivers
Last Name, First Name, Pct, Starts, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Purses
Brennan, George, 19.8, 1250, 247, 179, 144, 5,019,523
Sears, Brian, 18.0, 1178, 212, 172, 173, 4,477,379
Tetrick, Tim, 15.2, 1165, 177, 175, 127, 4,842,694
Gingras, Yannick, 13.9, 1047, 146, 132, 138, 3,072,932
Pierce, Ron, 11.8, 1120, 132, 135, 134, 4,001,848
Miller, Andy, 9.9, 1076, 107, 121, 111, 2,305,998
Miller, David, 8.1, 1078, 87, 109, 126, 2,691,867
Campbell, John, 9.7, 844, 82, 100, 106, 3,513,728
Dube, Daniel, 7.6, 781, 59, 44, 79, 1,528,933
Buter, Tyler, 5.3, 430, 23, 38, 37, 554,314
Silverman, Richard, 6.6, 333, 22, 30, 37, 560,178
2010 Meadowlands Leading Trainers
Last Name, First Name, Pct, Starts, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Purses
Pena, Lou, 25.7, 448, 115, 69, 63, 1,744,731
Burke, Ron, 14.6, 390, 57, 68, 49, 1,905,309
Kesmodel, Mark, 15.1, 265, 40, 36, 40, 807,787
Miller, Julie, 21.1, 175, 37, 34, 20, 771,995
Takter, Jimmy, 23.8, 143, 34, 27, 21, 2,440,923
Rucker, Ken, 9.5, 283, 27, 46, 34, 523,676
Kleinhans, Peter, 25.0, 104, 26, 16, 8, 602,470
Marino, Chris, 12.1, 207, 25, 18, 28, 351,195
Harder, Mark, 14.8, 155, 23, 22, 19, 708,181
Miller, Erv, 14.8, 155, 23, 25, 23, 566,914
Ford, Mark, 10.2, 206, 21, 25, 23, 603,473
Anderson, Joe, 15.5, 129, 20, 21, 16, 273,722
Saunders, Bruce, 13.2, 152, 20, 16, 14, 903,477
Smedshammer, Trond, 19.6, 102, 20, 13, 14, 784,137
(Meadowlands)