While the New Jersey Classic and Miss New Jersey for three-year-old state bred pacers will headline Saturday night’s card at The Meadowlands, a pair of drivers might make Canadian fans and horseplayers think they've tuned into the Mohawk broadcast.
With a number of drivers not in New Jersey on Saturday night and a number of Canadian-connected horses entered, McNair and Waples have each scored themselves a number of drives at the Big M. Both drivers have solid shots in the feature race of the night, the $200,000 New Jersey Classic. McNair will drive Pierce Hanover for trainer Ken Sucee and co-owners Ralph Sucee and Shelby Novick. Pierce Hanover has Post 1 and is listed at 6-1 on the morning line. This driver-horse combination clicked for a solid runner-up score on July 18 at Mohawk.
Waples is listed on 9-2 third choice Split The House, a horse he recently guided to victory in the Summertime Series at Mohawk, for trainer James 'Friday' Dean and co-owners Scott Horner and Peter Milligan.
Artspeak is the morning line choice over six rivals in the $200,000 Classic (race 11) as the dual NJSS champion attempts to find his winning form after a disappointing Meadowlands Pace. The speedy son of Western Ideal is just a few dollars shy of $1 million in career earnings, surely the partnership of Brittany farms, Marvin Katz, Joe Sbrocco and In The Gym Partners would enjoy having a winner’s circle photo to commemorate the milestone. Tony Alagna trains and Scott Zeron is the regular pilot for Artspeak.
Heading the $100,000 Miss New Jersey is The Show Returns, a daughter of Rocknroll Hanover. She is the filly NJSS champ, having been a longshot winner of her divisional final in May. The Show Returns has danced every dance this season for owners Richard and Joanne Young on her way to $169,128 in earnings. John Campbell “returns” to the sulky on Saturday evening for trainer Chris Ryder.
Off the track it’s Corntastic weekend with several corn-related activities and contests to go along with a complimentary ear of delicious Jersey corn.
A brand new promotion on Saturday is the FREE $5,000 Handicapping Contest on Victory Terrace rooftop bar open only to those between 18 and 30 years of age. It’s a new angle designed by Meadowlands President Jeff Gural and sponsored by his and wife Paula's Allerage Farms. The intent is to direct the attention of our target audience to wagering in the hope that they will experience the excitement of betting on and winning cash at the races.
The evening gets underway at 7:15 as the Championship Meet winds through the final few weeks, culminating with the $1 million Hambletonian on Saturday, August 8.
To view the entries for Saturday's harness racing card at The Meadowlands, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Meadowlands Racetrack.
(with files from The Meadowlands; Photos courtesy Iron Horse Photo and Norm Files)