There are many factors that handicappers use when making their selections at The Meadowlands. Some of the rationales lead to favourites, while others lead to big prices, something Big M players don’t mind waiting for, because at the mile oval, they do connect. In the end, a player needs to find the right balance for them.

Meadowlands' racing analyst Dave Little shares his insights on a key Big M handicapping factor to consider below.

First up is class handicapping. The final time is one way to determine which horse is classier than which. If you have a horse that has been finishing fifth or sixth in his last six starts, but the winning time of the race is in the 1:51 range, we can assume with a degree of certainty that this horse is classier than one who's been hitting the board lately in races that have been timed in 1:54 or so.

More sophisticated players can break the final mile times into fractional times, which can lead a player to an obscure horse at big odds.

Some players like to use statistical data that is available in the program to make their selections. It may not be easy to catch a horse at a big price when you play the top drivers and trainers, but they do tend to be a reliable way to go.

If a handicapper plays a horse that is trained by Ron Burke and driven by Yannick Gingras, the expected payout is going to be less than if he uses a less prominent conditioner and pilot, but when one can sniff those out, the reward is usually realized.

When looking at past performances and a handicapper is trying to figure out which horse is classier than another, it’s good to have a chart that shows which claiming and conditioned classes are similar, not to mention the relatively new TrackMaster rating system, which has been one of the prominent new ways that race secretaries seed horses to make for competitive fields.

At The Meadowlands, race secretary Scott Warren has made his basic conditions simple to understand. With the help of the old, classified ABC system as a guide, we will illustrate how easy it is to follow the ups and downs of the class ladder at the mile oval.

AA = Marquee Three-Year-Old and Three-Year-Old & Up Stakes

A1 = Free For All/Invitational

A2 = Non-winners of $20,000 last five starts or Preferred

A3 = Non-winners of $15,000 last five starts or TrackMaster 90

B1 = Non-winners of $10,000 lasr five starts or TrackMaster 86

B2 = Non-winners of $7,500 last five starts or TrackMaster 83

B3 = Non-winners of $5,000 last five starts or TrackMaster 80

C1 = Non-winners of $3,000 last five starts or TrackMaster 77

C2 = TrackMaster 74

“The chart (above) shows the various levels broken down into their simplest form,” said Jason Settlemoir, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager at The Meadowlands. “The chart is based on horses currently racing at The Meadowlands and how they perform in these events. The higher the class, the faster the competition. The end result is races that are the most competitive in the harness game, which yield a low percentage of winning favourites that are comparable to the top Thoroughbred tracks in North America.

“As we head into summer, some of these classes get much tougher and may need adjusting. Right now, a $10,000 claimer would be similar to a non-winners of $3,000 or TrackMaster 77. This level stays fairly consistent.”

On the other hand, some adjustments need to be made when doping out races with younger horses in the non-winners of “x” amount of races. In the winter, a non-winners of four is a middle condition, but as we move into summer, that condition becomes loaded with horses that will soon be racing at the top levels.

These are the ever-changing dynamics of racing that create the pari-mutuel puzzles that everyone loves to try and figure out to get paid every Friday and Saturday night.

Live racing at The Meadowlands will take place every Friday and Saturday for the next 25 consecutive weeks. Post time is 6:20 p.m., except for the last day of the meeting, Hambletonian Day, Saturday, Aug. 5, when the first race heads to the gate at noon. As always, free past performances for every race of every Meadowlands card are available by going to playmeadowlands.com.

They’ll be a fresh face and a fresh voice for viewers to enjoy when they check out the live “Racing from The Meadowlands” simulcast presentation this Friday (Feb. 17) and Saturday (Feb. 18). Both nights, Otten will serve as host of the pregame show, which kicks off at 5:45 p.m., but each night, she’ll be joined in the co-host chair by Mike Bozich, the longtime track announcer at Harrah’s Philadelphia. On Saturday, Peter Kleinhans, a man of many talents who drove a winner at The Big M last weekend, will call the 14-race card. Kleinhans, who can list “musician” as one of many things on his lengthy resume, has been calling races for several decades.

(With files from Meadowlands)