The Meadowlands will return to live racing before you know it, in fact, qualifying races will be held in one week, on Thursday, Aug. 25. The box for those qualifiers closes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 24.
The September live racing begins on Thursday, Sept. 1. The first two weeks of the meet will have a Thursday, Friday and Saturday schedule with the third week racing on Friday and Saturday only.
The third leg of the Kindergarten Series for all divisions of two-year-olds will open the meet on Sept. 1.
There will be a number of short overnight series offered for two and three-year-olds that encompass the thee-week September race meet. They require no nomination or payment; they are overnights and you need only enter your horse when those classes are listed on the condition sheet.
The Meadowlands, in concert with the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey, has made an important and costly commitment to NJ Sired freshmen and sophomores with the dedication of $1.6 million in added purse money to establish the New Jersey Classic Series (NJCS), which will offer another chance for them to compete for large purses in their home state of New Jersey.
Friday, Sept. 2 features elimination races for the inaugural NJCS for three-year-old trotting fillies and colts with the $300,000e (A division) and $100,000e (B division) the following Friday, Sept. 9.
The two-year-old NJCS for both trotting and pacing fillies will have eliminations on Thursday, Sept. 8 with the colts on Friday, Sept. 9. The finals for all of the two-year-old stakes will be on Friday, Sept. 16. The trotting finals will mirror the purse for the three-year-olds at $300,000e for the A division and $100,000e for the B division. The A division final purse for pacers will be $150,000e and the B $75,000e.
The fifth scheduled leg of the Miss Versatility will also be raced on Thursday, Sept. 8 as a last prep for the $120,000e final on Jug Day at the Delaware County Fair.
Eligible horses for the stakes mentioned above and stakes conditions are available at the preceding links.
(With files from Meadowlands)