There will no doubt be plenty of money put in play over the course of the upcoming weekend (Nov. 13-14) at The Meadowlands as the track’s popular multi-leg wagers will offer a total of $300,000 in guaranteed pools.
On Friday night (Nov. 13), the 20-cent Pick-6 – which begins in the eighth race – has a guaranteed pool of $20,000. Big M management saw fit to make the monetary assurance in the aftermath of last Saturday (Nov. 7) when the wager was not hit, creating a carryover of $8,031.
Last Friday (Nov. 6), a Pick-6 carryover led to a total pot of over $51,000, and those sharp enough to have tickets bearing all six winners walked away with $23,020.
The other $280,000 in assured funds will come from the 20-cent Pick-5 and 50-cent Pick-4. The Pick-5 – which begins in the first race – will offer $50,000 guaranteed pools on both Friday and Saturday, while the 50-cent Pick-4s will offer $50,000 on both race sixes and $40,000 more on each race 10 during the course of the weekend.
All of those wagers offer a low 15 per cent takeout, which is also true of the 20-cent Survivor Pick-7 – which starts on the third race – as well as the 10-cent pentafecta, which is offered on the 13th and final race of the night.
Other payouts worth mentioning from last week include Friday night’s Pick-4 ($1,120), Survivor ($3,118) and pentafecta ($1,702), while Saturday’s big payoffs came in the Pick-4 ($1,912) and pentafecta ($7,786).
LAST WEEK: A pair of Breeders Crown champions strutted their stuff in the Kindergarten Classic Finals for two-year-olds last Saturday. Fire Start Hanover ran her seasonal stats to eight wins from 12 starts after taking the filly pace while Summa Cum Laude, fresh off his dead heat in the Crown with the unbeaten Perfect Sting, overcame post 10 to win the colt and gelding pace.
Anoka Hanover upped her winning streak to six on the way to victory lane in the filly trot while 6-1 shot Dee’s Red Delicious became the only winner to not go off as the public choice in the colt and gelding trot.
Big M fans can now look forward to the third biggest program of the calendar year – after Hambletonian Day and Meadowlands Pace Night – when Fall Final Four/TVG Finals Night takes place on Nov. 21, with many Kindergarten and Breeders Crown participants expected to be on hand.
That evening, two-year-olds will be in the spotlight as the Governor’s Cup (colt pace), Three Diamonds (filly pace), Valley Victory (colt trot) and Goldsmith Maid (filly trot) makeup the Fall Final Four, with total purses of about $1.8 million.
In addition, year-end divisional honours will be on the line in the four TVG Finals, which are the Mares Trot, Open Trot, Mares Pace and Open Pace, a fabulous foursome which will see just over $1 million get doled out.
THE BIG THREE: George Napolitano Jr. and Todd McCarthy kept on rolling, as each won four times last weekend to lead the driver colony.
With many of the Big M regulars absent in recent weeks driving on the Grand Circuit, Simon Allard, Napolitano and McCarthy have combined to win 36 of the last 77 races contested at the mile oval. Allard and McCarthy are currently leading the standings with 26 wins apiece, and Napolitano is right behind them with 22.
FREE PPs: For free past performances of Meadowlands races, courtesy of the United States Trotting Association and TrackMaster, go to playmeadowlands.com, where one can access races one through five – the entire 20-cent Pick-5 – on both the Friday and Saturday night cards. In addition, because of the $20,000 guarantee, Friday’s Pick-6 (races eight through 13) will also be available.
TWEET THE TEAM: Stay in touch on Twitter with the Big M’s Dave Brower (@eedoogie), Dave Little (@DaveLittleBigM), Ken Warkentin (@kenvoiceover), Andrew Demsky (@shadesonracing) and Jessica Otten (@JessicaOtten1). Check in everyday for Meadowlands news and updates at those handles, as well as @TheMeadowlands and #playbigm.
CHECK OUT THE PICKS: For those who need to get a leg up on the action, go to playmeadowlands.com to see track oddsmaker and analyst Brower’s selections and commentary. Click on this link to check out Friday’s card.
Additionally, track announcer Warkentin’s blog is available on the site and offers his picks and analysis.
On race nights, access picks and plays from the Big M TV team at #playbigm or at @TheMeadowlands.
CHECK OUT THE SHOW: As always look for the “Racing from The Meadowlands” live in-house simulcast show every Friday and Saturday night. The pre-game show begins at 6:42 p.m. First race is at 7:15 p.m.
Otten will join Brower on the Sam McKee Memorial broadcast set Friday. The usual team of Brower and Little will be on camera Saturday.
If you want to watch all the action at home, go to rtn.tv or your favourite ADW platform to catch every race live.
FORE! The 2020 Masters at Augusta National begins Thursday (Nov. 12), and if wagering on golf is your thing, head to the Big M’s FanDuel Sportsbook where all kinds of straight wagers and prop bets will be offered on professional golf’s “Super Bowl”.
Fans can also watch and wager on all the National Football League and college football action, as well as other sports, when the book is open for business from 10 a.m. – midnight Sunday through Friday and from 10 a.m. – 2 a.m. on Saturday.
(The Meadowlands)