World champions were crowned and records shattered during the final weeks of the 2009 harness meet at the
Meadowlands Racetrack.
Fueled by record European wagering, the Hambletonian Day handle increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2009. The $8,343,405 wagered on Saturday, August 8 was the third highest handle in harness racing history, trailing only the $8.8 million wagered on the 2002 Hambletonian and $9 million wagered in 2005. European wagering was up 72 per cent over the previous year, with a record $1,968,994 bet on races simulcast to Scandinavia and France (vs. $1,146,225 in 2008).
A crowd of 25,754 turned out to watch Muscle Hill's stakes and world record tying performance in the $1.5 million Hambletonian, an increase of three per cent over the 2008 total of 25,006. Muscle Hill's stunning 1:50.1 clocking equaled the fastest mile by a trotter on a mile track shared by Lucky Jim, which accomplished the feat in the Nat Ray earlier that day, Donato Hanover and Giant Diablo (both in 2007 at the Red Mile). The colt, trained by Greg Peck, eclipsed the previous Hambletonian stakes record of 1:51.1 set in 2006 by Glidemaster by one full second.
Not Enough made its Meadowlands debut a memorable one as it set a track and world record for a three-year-old pacing filly with a 1:49 mile in the Mistletoe Shalee. Shadow Play also dazzled fans with a 1:47.4 victory in the U.S. Pacing Championship, which helped boost the average clocking for the 10 pacing events on the Hambletonian Day card to an industry record 1:49.1.
Hambletonian Day was a career-best for Meadowlands leading driver Brian Sears, whose $1,555,674 in purse earnings on August 8 was a harness racing record. Triumphs in the $1,520,333 Hambletonian with Muscle Hill and $783,042 Oaks with Broadway Schooner topped Sears' five wins on the card. He also piloted Holiday Road to victory in the $533,600 Peter Haughton Memorial, securing the colt's status as the early favorite for the 2010 Hambletonian. The day was the highlight of the 2009 meet for Sears, who ran away with his fifth straight January-August driving title, and tenth overall, with 225 victories and $6.5 million in purses won.
Hall of Fame driver Ron Pierce added another milestone to his illustrious career as he reached 7,000 wins in the $50,000 Invitational behind Montecito on Hambletonian Day. Pierce also surpassed $150 million in career earnings earlier in the season, placing him third all-time on that list with only John Campbell and Mike Lachance ahead of him.
Records continued to fall on closing night of the meet, which featured $1.6 million in Breeders Crown Championships for older horses. Over 10,000 fans turned out on August 22 to watch Won The West pace the fastest mile in Crown history with his stunning 1:47 upset over Shadow Play in the $500,000 Open Pace. Hana Hanover motored her way into the record books with a stakes and world-record tying 1:48.4 mile in the $331,500 Mare Pace. She equaled Frightening P's world record for an aged pacing mare on a mile track, set in 2002 at the Meadowlands, and supplanted the previous Crown stakes record of 1:49.2 shared by Always Cam (2004) and Burning Point (2006). Buck I St Pat also soared to a stakes record 1:52 win in the $250,000 Mare Trot.
The $1 million Meadowlands Pace, the nation's richest pacing event, also produced one of the season's most thrilling moments as Well Said crushed the competition in 1:47.3. Well Said's clocking was the second fastest in Meadowlands Pace history, behind Art Official's 1:47 track record over Somebeachsomewhere in 2008. Driven by Ron Pierce and trained by Steve Elliott, Well Said became the eighth horse to win both the North America Cup at Mohawk Racetrack and the Meadowlands Pace.
Live attendance for the 2009 Harness Meet was 425,963, up 1.9 per cent from the previous year. Total wagering was $352,778,782 for 147 racing dates, a $2,399,856 average per card. The total marked a 10.5 per cent decline over the $2,682,875 per card average for 149 dates in 2008, which measures slightly ahead of the industry trend. Equibase's racing economic indicators show an 11 percent decline in wagering year-to-date on U.S. races in 2009 vs. 2008.
2009 MEADOWLANDS LEADING DRIVERS
Driver, , Pct, Starts, Wins, 2nd, 3rd, Purses
Sears, Brian, 15.9, 1414, 225, 198, 206, 6,550,320
Miller, David, 14.8, 1437, 212, 182, 189, 4,863,819
Brennan, George, 14.5, 1413, 205, 197, 189, 4,404,757
Miller, Andy, 13.6, 1381, 188, 163, 132, 4,283,661
Tetrick, Tim, 16.4, 1034, 170, 144, 109, 4,821,624
Pierce, Ron, 10.5, 1215, 127, 130, 145, 4,408,759
Campbell, John, 11.9, 985, 117, 111, 131, 3,436,633
Gingras, Yannick, 12.0, 919, 110, 113, 89, 2,453,091
Dube, Daniel, 10.1, 1042, 105, 117, 111, 2,642,957
Goodell, Eric, 7.6, 591, 45, 44, 69, 948,118
2009 MEADOWLANDS LEADING TRAINERS
Trainer, , Pct, Starts, Wins, 2nd, 3rd, Purses
Rucker, Ken, 13.3, 639, 85, 89, 80, 1,699,867
Kesmodel, Mark, 19.8, 313, 62, 35, 41, 1,028,678
Miller, Julie, 27.1, 225, 61, 33, 29, 1,747,680
Miller, Erv, 23.3, 240, 56, 34, 27, 1,188,114
Burke, Ron, 15.6, 347, 54, 45, 42, 1,751,010
Croghan, Ross, 13.2, 370, 49, 46, 42, 1,617,632
Coleman, Casie, 22.2, 189, 42, 36, 24, 802,351
Harder, Mark, 19.8, 207, 41, 26, 32, 855,259
Remmen, Larry, 17.8, 225, 40, 34, 26, 1,065,481
Fusco, Carmine, 12.7, 308, 39, 35, 37, 569,744
(Meadowlands)