The Meadowlands Racetrack is set to kick off Super Bowl weekend this Friday with yet another 14-race program.
The weekly $25,000 Open Handicap Trot has been carded as Race 2. In last week’s edition, Can Do went gate to wire and became the first repeat winner in the class since the fall meet began in November. The Jody Reidel trainee will be steered once again by driver Anthony Napolitano and will start from the outside Post 7.
A solid field of pacing mares will head forth for Race 7, which carries a purse of $16,000. The venerable Radar Contact will make her return from a short break and is heading in off of a victorious qualifying performance. The Indiana-bred is closing in on the million-dollar mark in career earnings. Radar Contact’s 2015 campaign was her best to date – she competed against and beat top-calibre mares, banked $287,415 in purses and lowered her mark to 1:49.2. Noel Daley conditions Radar Contact for Charles Stillings and Dean Ehrgott.
First-race post time is 6:35 p.m. The Friday card will feature a carryover of $18,653 in the Pick Five, which begins in Race 3 and has a 50-cent base wager. To further entice horseplayers, the Meadowlands has increased the guaranteed pool amount to $50,000 and the sequence will be featured as part of the United States Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering Program. The Hi-5 Super Jackpots continue to climb, with Race 7 now just shy of $15,000 and the last-race pool at $73,603. Those bets require a unique winning ticket and are at the low, low take-out rate of 15 per cent.
The Meadowlands’ Friday and Saturday cards each offer full fields.
Promotions-wise, the 60-second wagering spree will offer cash on Friday. A Saturday promotion will offer patrons a chance to win a 40-inch HD TV.
(With files form the Meadowlands)