The Meadowlands Racetrack capped its 2012 harness meet with a spectacular display of stakes races and events that drew increases in attendance and handle over the previous year.

Nighttime attendance on Friday, August 17 was 4,014 vs. 3,941 for the 2011 finale, which was raced on a Saturday. Live wagering was $424,227 vs. $396,719 in 2011, while the Meadowlands total handle was $2,479,596 for the 12-race card vs. $2,171,319 wagered on 10 races in 2011.

The summer finale marked a positive end to the tracks’ first season under private management by Jeff Gural’s New Meadowlands Racetrack LLC. Overall, live attendance for the meet was up 6.6 per cent, while on-track wagering was up 8 per cent. Export handle (the amount wagered on the Meadowlands by other outlets) was up 1.7 per cent. Total Meadowlands handle (all sources) was up 2.5 per cent.

“We were pleased with the live meet,” said general manager Michael Newlin. “Our numbers show that we got some new people in the door and they wagered on our live product.”

Yannick Gingras clinched his first career driving title on the final night of racing with 125 victories for the meet. Gingras, who also won his first Meadowlands Pace with A Rocknroll Dance, bested earnings leader Tim Tetrick ($3.4 million) by two wins.

Ron Burke ran away with his first Meadowlands training title, harnessing 64 winners over the season. Newly inducted Hall of Famer Jimmy Takter led all trainers in earnings with $1.9 million in purses won.

Top 10 Drivers
(Name - Starts - W-P-S - Earnings)
Gingras, Yannick - 662 - 125-96-72 - $2,657,030
Tetrick, Tim - 645 - 123-80-92 - $3,457,933
Miller, David - 727 - 108-96-89 - $2,751,037
Sears, Brian - 545 - 102-90-64 - $2,404,475
Miller, Andy - 780 - 98-95-74 - $2,140,553
Pierce, Ronald - 659 - 79-90-98 - $1,973,404
Callahan, Corey - 333 - 35-35-42 - $799,423
Dube, Daniel - 609 - 33-44-63 - $740,378
Campbell, John - 492 - 32-57-45 - $867,318
Lachance, Mike - 264 - 32-27-31 - $715,274

Top 10 Trainers
(Name - Starts - W-P-S - Earnings)
Burke, Ronald - 402 - 64-54-45 - $1,454,506
Takter, Jimmy - 176 - 39-34-24 - $1,967,968
Allard, Rene - 208 - 38-29-21 - $503,268
Miller, Julie - 151 - 38-26-16 - $591,323
Ford, Mark - 269 - 27-23-37 - $508,716
Miller, Erv - 144 - 27-21-18 - $396,058
Alagna, Tony - 166 - 26-25-20 - $973,034
Harder, Mark - 133 - 22-20-10 - $843,729
Fraley, PJ - 156 - 19-19-24 - $466,645
Coleman, Casie - 62 - 18-11-9 - $365,156

(Meadowlands)