Starting Friday, February 3, the Meadowlands Pick 5 will have a $20,000 guaranteed pool on all racing nights

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The Pick 5, which is a 50-cent base wager, starts in Race 1.

On Saturday, January 28, the Meadowlands Pick 5 handled a record $96,962, helped largely by a $16,400 carryover heading into the card. The average 50-cent payout has been $1,717 so far in 2012 and there have been two carryovers through the first 11 race cards.

Reminder: Noms Close Feb. 1 For Rags To Riches Series

The new Rags To Riches Series for claiming horses will kick off Thursday, February 16 at the Meadowlands.

The conditions call for three-year-olds and up that have started for a base claiming price of $10,000 or less once in their last four starts up to and including January 20, 2012. A nomination fee of $550 for the Rags To Riches is due by Wednesday, February 1. There is a $550 entry fee for the first leg only.

The series will be raced in a bracket format, with the top finishers from the first leg moving on to the next leg and the top 10 reaching the $100,000 (estimated) final on Saturday, March 10. Purses for the three scheduled legs are $10,000, $12,500 and $15,000. There is no claiming during the series.

“The Rags To Riches enables the small-time owner to participate at a major level with a big purse up for grabs in the series final,” noted Meadowlands Racing Secretary Peter Koch.

Click here for an application.

(Meadowlands)