The Meadowlands Racetrack will be offering a program of live racing on Saturday night, as the 13-race card will feature $20,000 eliminations for the Freshman Fall Final Four stakes and a $25,000 TVG Open prep for the pacing mares.
Each of the two-year-old stakes require only a single elimination to reduce each field to ten. Byes had been offered to and accepted by the top money winners for each division.
The pacing fillies will clash first (Race 3), as they will be preparing for next week's $381,200 Three Diamonds final. The byes were accepted by division leaders Youaremycandygirl, Rainbow Room and Majorsspecial Lady, which thus leaves ten to vie for the seven remaining berths. Kindergarten final winner Kissin In The Sand (PP2, Tim Tetrick) is the logical favourite off of her imposing 1:50.3 win in that race, one in which she missed the track record for her division by a scant fifth of a second. Nancy Johansson conditions the filly for Marvin Katz and Bud Hatfield Stables.
The Goldsmith Maid for filly trotters (Race 5) drew 11 declarations, and Kindergarten final winner Hey Blondie accepted the bye into next week's $420,750 final. With division leader Manchego having passed on the event, it's a pretty even field of ten left to fight over nine spots next week. Seviyorum (PP7) is the likely choice off her runner-up finish in the Breeders Crown. She races out of the Andy and Julie Miller barn for their interests and those of Story, Inc.
The $464,650 Valley Victory final will unite Samo Different Day, who accepted the bye, with nine of the ten colt trotters who will race in the elimination (Race 8). The presence of top colts such as NYSS star Fourth Dimension (Brian Sears), KYSS final winner Hat Trick Habit (Tetrick), PASS final winner Fashionwoodchopper (David Miller), Matron winner Wolfgang (Yannick Gingras) and Breeders Crown runner-up Mets Hall (Andy Miller) will make it a very contentious race.
The colt pacers are also a distinguished group that will see Breeders Crown champ Stay Hungry wait in the barn for the $411,700 Governor's Cup final, while Metro winner Lost In Time (Scott Zeron), Red Mile Grand Circuit star Nutcracker Sweet (Tetrick), Matron winner Springsteen (Simon Allard) and new sensation American History (Gingras) are set to throw down for the nine available positions next week.
The TVG Mare Open was the only one of the four races offered to that group to fill. Seven talented females will face the gate in the seventh race as the prep for the final for their division among the estimated $1.2 million in TVG Finals next Saturday.
Post time is 7:15 p.m.
The fields for the elims can be viewed here.
(Meadowlands Racetrack)