In what is now 'the new normal,' many students have been schooling at home. Although, some horses who want to qualify for next week’s Kindergarten Classic Finals at the Meadowlands Racetrack will have to be in class this Friday night (Oct. 30) at the 'Big M' and do well in the series’ fourth and final leg if they are to make it to the culminating big-money exams.

The event for two-year-olds will have a total of six divisions on the Friday night program for horses of each sex and gait trying to earn enough points based on where they finish to qualify for one of four finals – with purses totalling $800,000 – that will take place on Saturday, November 7.

WHO WILL WEAR THE CROWNS? This weekend, 12 Breeders Crown Finals will settle many year-end divisional-honour scores at Indiana’s Hoosier Park.

The 'Crown' will be offered at the Meadowlands on its simulcast network where the four finals for two-year-olds will head to the gate Friday night and the four events for three-year-olds and four more for older horses will take place on Saturday. Post time for both 15-race cards is at 6 p.m.

The list of stars who will be on display include eight horses in this week’s Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Top 10 Poll: Tall Dark Stranger, Party Girl Hill, Atlanta, Gimpanzee, Perfect Sting, Kissin In The Sand, Bettors Wish and Shartin N.

Many Breeders Crown performers will be at the Big M on November 21 for Fall Final Four/TVG Finals Night.

That evening, two-year-olds will be in the spotlight as the Governor’s Cup (colt pace), Three Diamonds (filly pace), Valley Victory (colt trot) and Goldsmith Maid (filly trot) make up the Fall Final Four, with total purses of about $1.8 million.

Year-end divisional honours – as well as Horse of the Year – could be determined by what happens in the four TVG Finals, which are the Mares Trot, Open Trot, Mares Pace and Open Pace, a fabulous foursome which will see just over $1 million get doled out.

IT’S A SURE THING: Guaranteed pools will make their return to the Meadowlands next weekend.

Three of the track’s most popular wagers will once again offer promises of a large pot while continuing to have a low 15 per cent takeout.

Effective on Friday, November 6, the first race 20-cent Pick-5 will offer a guaranteed pool of $50,000. Another $90,000 in 'promised green' will be up for grabs in the mile track’s popular 50-cent Pick-4 bets, with $50,000 the starting point on races six through nine and $40,000 in the hat on races 10 through 13.

LAST WEEK: Friday night's (Oct. 23) GSY (Gural Settlemoir Yarock) Series race was won by the Mark Silva-trained and driven Dramatic Point, who lit up the board at odds of 46-1, creating giant payoffs in the win ($94.80), exactor ($1,550.80), triactor ($19,303.20) and 10-cent pentafecta ($16,626.60) pools.

A two-day carryover led to a total pool of over $41,000 in the 20-cent Pick-6 Saturday night (Oct. 24) and after a sequence that saw none of the horses’ odds reach 8-1, the payoff was a handsome $9,225.

The top drivers over the course of the 26-race weekend were George Napolitano Jr. (five winners) and Todd McCarthy (four).

CUP RUNNETH OVER: Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, KY is the site for the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will begin with five events on Friday, November 6 and conclude on Saturday, November 7 with nine more races, the last of which is the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The first Breeders’ Cup race on Friday is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., while Saturday’s opener will face the gate at 12:02 p.m. The 'Classic' has a post time of 5:13 p.m.

FREE PPs: For free past performances of Meadowlands races, courtesy of the United States Trotting Association and TrackMaster, head to playmeadowlands.com, where one can access races nine through 13 for both Friday and Saturday. Those races include the 20-cent Late Pick-5, 50-cent Late Pick-4 and 10-cent Late Pentafecta, not to mention the Late Daily Double.

TWEET THE TEAM: Stay in touch on Twitter with the Big M’s Dave Brower (@eedoogie), Dave Little (@DaveLittleBigM), Ken Warkentin (@kenvoiceover), Andrew Demsky (@shadesonracing) and Jessica Otten (@JessicaOtten1). Check in every day for Meadowlands news and updates at those handles, as well as @TheMeadowlands and #playbigm.

CHECK OUT THE PICKS: For those who need to get a leg up on the action, go to playmeadowlands.com to see track oddsmaker and analyst Brower’s selections and commentary. To check out Friday’s card, click here.

Additionally, track announcer Warkentin’s blog is available on the site and offers his picks and analysis.

On race nights, access picks and plays from the Big M TV team at #playbigm or at @TheMeadowlands.

Speaking of picks, Otten picked best bet winners on both Friday and Saturday night last week with neither horse going off as the favourite. Dontpassme Hanover ($6.40) was her Friday night winner before War Dan A ($5.40) scored on Saturday.

CHECK OUT THE SHOW: As always look for the 'Racing from The Meadowlands' live in-house simulcast show every Friday and Saturday night. It begins at 6:42 p.m. First race is at 7:15 p.m.

If you want to watch all the action at home, head to rtn.tv or your favourite ADW platform to catch every race live.

GET YOUR FOOTBALL ACTION: Now that the favoured Los Angeles Dodgers have won the World Series in six games over the pesky Tampa Bay Rays for their first championship since 1988, it is time to go deep handicapping and wagering on college and professional football at the Big M’s FanDuel Sportsbook.

You can watch and wager on all the NFL and college action, as well as other sports, when the book is open for business from 10 a.m. – midnight Sunday through Friday and from 10 a.m. – 2 a.m. on Saturday.

(Meadowlands Racetrack)