Meadows Monday Memo

A “THANK YOU” FROM THE RACING TEAM

The harness racing team at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows would like to thank everyone – owners, trainers, drivers, caretakers and horseplayers – that helped to make Adios Day a success.  The handle of more than $1.5 million was an Adios record.

PICK8 PAYS DIVIDENDS

One of the most interesting wagers on the Adios Day card was the Adios Pick8, which started in Race 8 and finished with the Adios, which was Race 15.  The 8-race sequence winners, by mutuel support were:  favorite, favorite, second choice, second choice, favorite, favorite, second choice, and second choice.  Amazingly, the winning tickets returned their backers $6,925 for a 20-cent ticket.

BACK TO ACTION WEDNESDAY

The great stallion Adios provided owner Delvin Miller with many things in life.  The Meadows reminds everyone that Adios weekend is named after Miller’s great stallion, and doesn’t mean “goodbye.”  The racing season picks right back up on Wednesday.  The Meadows is racing Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 12:45, Friday evening at 5:10

MEADOWS/PENN PICK4

The Meadows/Penn cross-breed Pick4 will return this Friday evening, with all four races taking place between 6:00 and 6:45PM Eastern time.  Leg A will be the first race from our sister track, Penn National Race Course, and Leg B will be The Meadows’ 4^th race.  Leg C will be Penn’s second race, while Leg D will be our 5^th race.  The wager features a low 12% takeout.  Posts will be drawn on Tuesday for The Meadows’ portion of the Pick4.

BARGAIN BASEMENT BUY

When Always Bet On Me crossed the line in the third race this past Thursday at The Meadows, the first career win by the freshman (in his first career start) brought some extra attention.  The son of Betting Line, like many other winners this summer, was a yearling purchase last fall at the Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg.  But unlike most of those other winners, the victory returned his owners, Neal Racing Stable and Eric Neal, 150% of the gelding’s purchase price.  And no, it wasn’t a stake race.  Always Bet On Me was one of the lowest-priced horses to sell at the multi-day auction, bringing just $3,000.  His win in the $9,000 purse non-winners of 1 race was worth $4,500.  The win wasn’t a fluke.  Always Bet On Me had won his first qualifying effort in 2:00.3 and then finished second in an extra qualifying race in 1:56.3.  He came from 6^th at the ¾ pole in his career debut and pulled away in the stretch, winning in 1:55.3 by more than two lengths. Randy Neal trains the winner and son Eric was in the bike.

If you would like additional information at any point, please reach out to track announcer Jeff Zidek (jeff.zidek@pennentertainment.com).

by Jeff Zidek, for The Meadows