It’s time for harness racing fans who love stakes races to get out their magic markers and circle some dates on their calendars as this weekend marks the beginning of The Meadowlands’ Championship Meet.
The stakes will start sizzling this Saturday, May 2, when the $157,125 USD Dexter Cup (Grade 3) for three-year-old open trotters and $67,650 USD Lady Suffolk for three-year-old filly trotters are the first two slabs of prime meat on the grill. The New Jersey Sire Stakes also begin on Saturday.
Southwind Alamo, trained by Ron Coyne Jr., headlines the Dexter Cup field of eight sophomore trotters as the 3-1 morning line favourite from post four with Todd McCarthy set to drive. A Kindergarten Stakes winner at the start of his two-year-old campaign in July last year, the colt on the verge of reaching six figures in earnings enters the graded stakes event off a career-best 1:53.3 victory in his season's debut on April 16 at Harrah's Philadelphia. The son of Tactical Landing-Amber Ella is owned by Coyne And Pachuta Stable of Allentown, New Jersey, Blair Corbeil of Leduc, Alta., Richard Carney of Hartsdale, New York and Mike McAllister of Beaumont, Alta.
Trainer Ake Svanstedt has the favourites in the companion filly event, with Yannick Gingras driving 5-2 morning line choice All Time Trot S, the season-debuting Goldsmith Maid winner who has drawn post six in the nine-horse Lady Suffolk field, and Svanstedt steering 3-1 second pick Busy Miss Lissy S, last year's Kindergarten Stakes divisional champ, from post two in her first sophomore start.
The full fields for this Saturday's Dexter Cup and Lady Suffolk are listed below in post position order.
$157,125 USD Dexter Cup (Grade 3)
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Midwind Chimp - Mattias Melander - Marcus Melander - 8-1
2. Whos Eyes Blues - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 6-1
3. Jim Beam - Tim Tetrick - Scott Di Domenico - 5-1
4. Southwind Alamo - Todd McCarthy - Ron Coyne Jr. - 3-1
5. Nordic Dancer S - Scott Zeron - Ake Svanstedt - 8-1
6. Magic Punk - Ake Svanstedt - Ake Svanstedt - 4-1
7. Cambridge Hanover - Jason Bartlett - Andrew Harris - 10-1
8. Neighver Punt - Dexter Dunn - Marcus Melander - 9-2
$67,650 USD Lady Suffolk
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Art Of The State - Andrew McCarthy - Marcus Melander - 10-1
2. Busy Miss Lissy S - Ake Svanstedt - Ake Svanstedt - 3-1
3. My Philomene - Scott Zeron - Megan Scran - 15-1
4. Ygritte - Mattias Melander - Marcus Melander - 8-1
5. Crossover - Dexter Dunn - Marcus Melander - 4-1
6. All Time Trot S - Yannick Gingras - Ake Svanstedt - 5-2
7. Berry Good News - Mark Herschberger - R. Nifty Norman - 8-1
8. Abbey Blue Chip - Tim Tetrick - Ron Coyne Jr. - 10-1
9. Sister Wine - Andy Miller - Julie Miller - 12-1
The Meadowlands, known for its marquee nights of racing, will then host the following events (with estimated USD purses) on the following nights during its Championship Meet:
- May 16 – $175,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial
- May 23 – $225,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes finals for three-year-old males and females on the pace
- June 12 – $225,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes finals for three-year-old males and females on the trot
- July 4 – $250,000 Graduate Series finals for both pacers and trotters; $175,000 Crawford Farms; $175,000 Dave Brower Memorial; $150,000 Six Pack; $150,000 Perfect Sting; $50,000 Meadowlands Pace eliminations
- July 11 – $800,000 Meadowlands Pace; $400,000 Hambletonian Maturity; $300,000 Del Miller Memorial; $300,000 Stanley Dancer Memorial; $300,000 William Haughton Memorial; $200,000 Jerry Silverman Memorial; and $175,000 Dorothy Haughton Memorial
- Aug. 1 – $100,000 Hambletonian eliminations; $50,000 Hambletonian Oaks eliminations
- Aug. 7 – $225,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes finals for two-year-old males and females on the pace
- Aug. 8 – $1 million Hambletonian; $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks; $300,000 Cane Pace; $300,000 John Cashman Memorial; $275,000 Sam McKee Memorial; $175,000 Lady Liberty; $175,000 Dr. John Steele Memorial; $120,000 Shady Daisy; and $225,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes finals for two-year-old males and females on the trot
- Sept. 11 – New Jersey Classic Series finals for two and three-year-olds (there are four events for pacers for $150,000 each and four events for trotters for $250,000 each); and $150,000 Girl Power
- Oct. 31 – Four $125,000 Kindergarten Series finals for two-year-olds
- Nov. 14 – The Fall Four: Valley Victory, Goldsmith Maid, Three Diamonds and Governor’s Cup, each for a purse of $400,000; FanDuel Championships: (two $350,000 dashes for males and two $175,000 events for females).
“We are proud to host some of the biggest races the sport offers year in and year out at The Meadowlands,” said Jason Settlemoir, Meadowlands Chief Operating Officer and General Manager. “Our schedule is once again stacked, with Meadowlands Pace Night and Hambletonian Day standing out as our two must-attend cards. The Fall Final Four/FanDuel Championships program has evolved into another gigantic night of racing that the entire sport watches because of its huge effect on divisional championships, not to mention [Dan Patch] Pacer, Trotter and Horse of the Year voting.”
On Friday night, John Rallis, the 2025 Lew Barasch Breakthrough Award winner and columnist and associate editor at TROT Magazine, will be paired up with Big M TV’s regular host Dave Little on the Sam McKee Memorial Broadcast Set. Rallis will have another edition of his pre-game show segment, “Replays with Rallis,” which yielded a $25 winner and a $30 winner the last time the 30-year-old did the show several weeks ago. On Saturday, DRF Harness editor Derick Giwner will sit alongside Little on the desk, which will allow Rallis to conduct interviews from the paddock as well as the winner’s circle during the course of the Dexter Cup/Lady Suffolk card. The pre-game show begins at 6 p.m. On both Friday and Saturday, Ken Warkentin will call the races and Gary DiLeo will handle commentary and selections on the FanDuel Television (FDTV) feed. DiLeo will handle the winner’s reaction interview on Friday.
Known as “The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports,” the 152nd edition of the Kentucky Derby takes place on Saturday, May 2 at Churchill Downs and simulcast regulars can watch and wager on the race inside The Meadowlands. Doors at The Big M will open at 9 a.m., with the first of 14 races at Churchill Downs slated for 11 a.m. The Kentucky Derby, which is race 12 on the program, has a post time of 6:57 p.m. The Meadowlands is offering several options for players who want to spend the day at the track watching all of the action while enjoying some good food and drink. Click here for Derby Day Dining information. Derby Day at The Meadowlands has additional cool stuff for those who come out to The Big M, including a $1,000 USD Derby Hat Contest as well as Win Wager Drawings with 10 winners of $50 USD win tickets on the Kentucky Derby and 10 winners of $100 USD win tickets on the live Meadowlands program. Visit playmeadowlands.com for full details.
Live harness racing at The Meadowlands will be conducted on a Friday-Saturday basis through Sept. 12 with a first-race post time of 6:35 p.m. There are several exceptions to those rules. On July 4, there is a stakes-packed program that includes two Graduate finals as well as eliminations for the Meadowlands Pace; post time is 6 p.m. The 101st edition of the $1-million Hambletonian is on Aug. 8; that card begins at noon. Finally, there will be one card that takes place on a Thursday and that program is on Aug. 6.
The Meadowlands offers free program pages for every race of every race card on its website.
(Standardbred Canada & Meadowlands Racetrack; photo of Southwind Alamo winning on July 5, 2025 at The Meadowlands)