Despite a winter storm that dumped nearly four inches of snow on the racetrack and upwards of eight inches in other parts of New Jersey that are home to many of the state’s racehorses, the Meadowlands Racetrack is pleased to have raced its entire 13-race card this past Saturday night as scheduled. This came as other racetracks in the region called off their racing programs.

“We never considered cancelling our card and that is a huge testament to our entire staff here at the Meadowlands,” said Jason Settlemoir, GM and COO of the Meadowlands Racetrack. “I also want to send a sincere thank you to all of the horsemen that braved the conditions to bring their horses to race. These men and women truly are dedicated to their horses and to our sport and we appreciate their support.”

The winter storm did create some treacherous travel conditions leading up to the races, which prevented several Meadowlands drivers from arriving as scheduled. This created an abnormally large number of late driver changes.

In response to the wagering public, the Meadowlands, in conjunction with its racing commission-employed judges, has put new internal controls in place. These controls will ensure, among other things, that no race that begins a multi-leg wager (Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5) will go out to post parade until all changes within the sequence races have been announced to the public.

“We realize we made an error on Saturday night in an effort to get the races started and for that we sincerely apologize to the wagering public,” said Settlemoir. “We know how much time and energy is put into handicapping and we want to assure our fans that we will place their interests at the top of our list of concerns every night.”

With another weekend of racing complete with full fields and challenging races on tap, the Meadowlands is offering its customers a special deal on Saturday, January 14.

The track is taking the commission it received from this past Saturday’s Pick Five wager plus another $7,500 to create $10,000 in ‘seed’ money that will be added to the January 14 Pick Five pool.

This will essentially lower the wager’s takeout rate by creating a carryover-like scenario. These scenarios provide further financial incentive for handicappers to play into the wager. The Pick Five covers the first five races on the card and carries a low 15 per cent takeout. The average pool was more than $57,000 last weekend.

(Meadowlands Racetrack)