The final weekend of harness racing at The Meadowlands before a four-week break will go out with a bang, as more than $2 million USD in purses will be on the line on Friday, Sept. 11 on New Jersey Classic (NJC) Finals Night before the track’s 50th anniversary is celebrated on Saturday, Sept. 12.
First up on Friday are the NJC dashes for two- and three-year-olds of each sex and gait. The four events for trotters go for $250,000 USD each, while the four paces have $150,000 USD purses. Also on the menu is the $188,200 USD Girl Power for mare trotters.
In the NJC sophomore filly pace, one of the division’s top players, Be Perfect Bg (8-5), is the one to beat. The Tony Beaton trainee is five-for-nine this year, and her four losses came to a pair of top-notch competitors. Earlier in the season the Perfect Sting-Jk Mardi Says filly was beaten twice by Loua Dipa, the defending divisional Dan Patch champion, and more recently was taken down by the red-hot Sangria Summer in the Lynch Memorial at Pocono Downs and Shady Daisy at The Big M. She has post six with Dexter Dunn at the lines.
The remarkable Wall Of Fame (9-5) will be looking for her eighth win in as many starts in the two-year-old filly trot for trainer Julie Miller and driver Andy Miller from post two. Last week in her elimination, the daughter of Walner-Saadet put forth another virtuoso performance, scoring by a never-an-anxious-moment three lengths in 1:53.4.
Hambletonian winner Apex (PP6, Dexter Dunn, 5-2) heads the sophomore male trot division after the harness racing universe collectively gasped when he was a well-beaten fourth as the 1-9 favourite in his elimination. Will the Marcus Melander trainee rebound? Or will one of a handful of top trotters – Diabolic Hill (PP3, Todd McCarthy, 5-1), Nix Nacken (PP5, Scott Zeron, 7-2) or Magic Punk (PP1, Yannick Gingras, 9-2) – get the win? In the aftermath of last week’s loss, Melander said it was a “bad trainer job and I didn’t have him sharp enough.” But after getting bloodwork done that revealed nothing of note, the 2019 Dan Patch Trainer of the Year said his Walner-Mission Brief colt was doing well and that he is expecting a good effort this week.
Aintmyfirstro Deo (2-1) has won all five of his outings for trainer Megan Scran but will have to earn his sixth straight win, having drawn post nine in a nine-horse field in the rookie male pace. The gelded son of Perfect Sting-Some Renditions has gone wire-to-wire on four occasions, while in his second career start, he won from well off the pace, a tactic that Scott Zeron may have to use Friday given his post position fortunes.
The New Jersey Classic finals plus the Girl Power will be shown live to a nationwide television audience as part of the New York Racing Association’s “America’s Day at the Races” series. The broadcast can be seen Friday night on Fox Sports 1 (FS1) from 8-11 p.m., and the team of Jessica Otten and Gabe Prewitt will provide commentary and selections.
Joining regular live simulcast show host Dave Little on the Sam McKee Memorial Broadcast Set this Friday and Saturday will be Brett Sturman, the handicapper and columnist from Harness Racing Update. The presentation gets underway both nights at 5:45 p.m. Ken Warkentin will be in his usual spot at the top of the stands calling the action. Little will handle winner’s circle interviews of the featured events on Friday with Gary DiLeo handling those chores on Saturday.
The Meadowlands has been one of the top harness tracks in the sport since it opened, and those attending on Saturday can celebrate the 50th anniversary of the mile oval. The first 1,000 in attendance will receive a commemorative Meadowlands 50th Anniversary flask.
Throughout the evening, there will be video reels, interviews and more. In addition, there will be concession specials at the Café, with $1 USD hot dogs, pretzels, popcorn and soda and $2 USD Bud and Bud Light drafts (for ages 21 and older). The specials are available from 6-11 p.m. with a limit of five items per transaction.
Players Club members can swipe their card at any self-service terminal for a chance to win up to $50 USD.
This is the final weekend of harness racing at The Meadowlands before the trotters and pacers take a four-week break. Harness racing will be conducted this Friday and Saturday night. Thereafter, the “Monmouth at The Meadowlands” mini-meet will be conducted with nine nights of Thoroughbred turf racing, which will be held on Sept. 18, 19, 25 and 26, and Oct. 2, 3, 9, 10 and 16. Post time is 7 p.m.
Harness racing will then return on Saturday, Oct. 17. After that, there will be harness racing on Friday and Saturday for the rest of October and throughout November. December will have a three-day-a-week schedule for the first three weeks of the month, with live action on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through the 19th. Then, after Dec. 19, there will be only one live harness card for the rest of the year, on Dec. 26. The post time for all harness racing programs for the remainder of 2026 is 6:20 p.m.
Due to regular season National Football League action that will take place at MetLife Stadium, there will be no simulcasting offered at The Meadowlands on Sept. 13, 20 and 27.
Guests can hang out on the roof at The Big M on Saturday, Sept. 19 and enjoy the classic rock sounds of The Past Masters. The show begins at 6 p.m., and there will be drink specials but absolutely no cover charge.
(Meadowlands Racetrack; photo of Be Perfect BG from a previous win)