To say driver Mark Herschberger’s success at The Meadowlands has him ahead of any career trajectory he likely had hoped for would be an understatement.
The 30-year-old pilot, who entered the night third in the drivers' standings at The Big M, won six races on the Friday, Nov. 28 card, becoming just the third driver during 2025 to win that many on a single program at the East Rutherford, N.J. oval. He joined some pretty good company. Driver of the Year favourite Jason Bartlett and perennial Big M top performer Yannick Gingras are the others to turn that trick this year.
On a night when wind gusts reaching 50 kilometres per hour dropped the real-feel temperature to -4 degrees, Herschberger stayed hot as a pistol all night long, despite conditions that were less than ideal.
“The headwind was tough and the whole track felt dead,” he said.
That didn't slow down Herschberger.
He scored in the third race with Im The Muscle ($12.20) and took the fourth with Miz Captain Cruze ($6) for his first two wins of the night. The latter conjured some early-career memories for the reinsman.
“Joe Putnam, who trains the horse when at Hoosier Park, got Bruce Lauer [the horse’s Big M trainer] on the phone and got me the drive on Miz Captain Cruze," Herschberger said. "The trip worked out and she raced phenomenally. Several years ago, Joey and his son said I should stay and race on the fair circuit in Indiana but six months after I came east, they told me what a good idea it was to make the move.”
Herschberger’s six-bagger now finds him with 86 Big M wins this year, good for second in the standings behind Brett Beckwith, who has 110.
The pilot ran his win total to five as he tallied with Rock My Universe ($3.60) in the seventh, Camlachie Chrome ($6.40) in the 11th and Parody ($9.40) in the 13th.
He got his half-dozen in the 14th and final race, when Thaneeya ($17.40) got the right trip to complete an all-Herschberger $85 late double.
“I’ve been driving her pretty aggressively lately and it just didn’t work out,” said Herschberger. “She’s been a tough mare to drive, but tonight, she picked up some cover. She seemed to like that."
His thoughts on the night?
“Looking at the card, I thought we could make some money. But six winners? I’m absolutely floored," he said.
In the Friday night co-feature, a $17,606 mid-range conditioned event for trotters, Sainthood came from off the pace to bring a bountiful payoff one day after Thanksgiving.
The 22-1 shot was unhurried early and sat eighth in the 10-horse field out of the first turn, worked his way into the flow third-over down the backside, then fired home to light up the board to the tune of a $47 win payoff in 1:55.4. He was a neck in front of First Class Rule (Joe Bongiorno), who edged out Aardiebythehill N (Jonathan Ahle) for place.
“He’s a really big horse, and big horses have a tendency to do well in the wind,’ said winning driver Steve Smith. “There were some leavers early, so I was able to fill in. No, I wasn’t confident [at the top of the stretch] but I got into the race late and he got by them.”
A four-year-old gelded son of International Moni-Truffles, Sainthood is a Joe Pavia Jr. trainee who won for the 11th time from 50 career outings. His lifetime earnings are now $152,968 for owner Bay Pond Racing Stable.
Mybitcoin captured same class for fillies and mares in similar style, flying home from eighth at the top of the lane to score by a head in 1:52.4 for trainer-driver Pat Lachance. The four-year-old daughter of Betting Line-Ryla Beach reached past Laurie Lee (Beckwith) and Glittering Hope (Herschberger), who were second and third, respectively. The winner is 11-for-49 lifetime with $144,451 in earnings for Clement Lauzon Authier. Another upsetter, she returned $18.
Veronica Spicer led the trainer colony with a pair of victories.
There were no winning tickets sold on the 20-cent Pick-6, creating a carryover of $3,381 for Saturday’s card. Those with five correct collected $15.94. All-source handle on the 14-race card totaled $2,296,222.
Racing resumes at The Meadowlands on Saturday at 6:20 p.m.
(With files from The Meadowlands)