The Meadowlands Racetrack is expecting there to be a lot of buzz surrounding one of its wagering pools this Friday evening (Oct. 18).

When the second week of racing in the Meadowlands’ fall meet begins Friday, there will be plenty of ‘big-green’ buzz, as a giant pool figures to be up for grabs in the track’s 50-cent Pick-5 that kicks off with the first race at 7:15 p.m.

Longshots ruled at the mile oval last Saturday (Oct. 12), as winner’s odds were at least 13-1 six times on the 13-race program. During the Pick-5 sequence, two 30-1 shots reigned supreme and no one cashed a winning ticket on the wager (those who correctly selected four winners walked away with $2,324.80), creating a carryover of $20,922.81.

That has led to this Friday’s anticipated ‘pot of gold,’ where, instead of the usual $25,000 guaranteed pool, the Pick-5 will offer a $75,000 promise, in partnership with the United States Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering initiative.

The last time the track’s Pick-5 sported a carryover ($30,928), the result was a total pool of $208,763 on June 8, and those holding winning tickets after some shrewd selections walked away with better than $72,000.

In total this weekend, the Big M will offer $200,000 in guaranteed money: $100,000 on both the 50-cent Pick-4 and 50-cent Pick-5 during this Friday’s and Saturday’s programs. As always, both wagers offer a low 15 per cent takeout. Free program pages for the multi-leg puzzles are available at both ustrotting.com and playmeadowlands.com.

QUICK LEARNERS: The Friday (Oct. 18) program at the Big M features four divisions of the fifth leg of the Kindergarten Classic for two-year-olds. The four big-money finals – with purses totaling more than $700,000 – will take place on November 2.

(With files from the Meadowlands Racetrack)