Boston Bound sizzles on sloppy track

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Boston Bound (Boston Red Rocks) appeared to be in an ambitious spot in the Saturday night harness racing feature at The Meadowlands, a $25,000 TrackMaster 90 on the pace, but after being claimed out of his last outing for $35,000, the Chris Height trainee proved up to the challenge of the bump up in class to record a sizzling 1:50.1 score on a damp, chilly evening over a sloppy track at The Big M.

It would take a lifetime-best effort to get the job done, and that’s exactly what the 6-year-old son of Boston Red Rocks-Ashleeswayrhighway brought to the dance.

Music Hall and Bondi Lockdown A pushed the gate away at the start as Boston Bound also opted to mix it up in the early fray. Music Hall led at the quarter in a snappy :26.3 before Boston Bound grabbed the point between the three-eighths and half and hit the half-mile marker in :54.1 as Jettingtomalibu was applying pressure racing beside the leader on the rim.

The harassment continued into and around the far turn as Boston Bound reached three-quarters in 1:23, but as the field straightened away at the top of the lane, Boston Bound shrugged off Jettingtomalibu and powered clear to a 1¾-length victory in a thoroughly dazzling performance. American Dealer N rallied for second with Jettingtomalibu holding third.

BOSTON BOUND REPLAY

“He’s super nice, two fingers to drive,” said winning pilot Mark Herschberger. “It took us a bit to clear, we got stretched out a bit to the half, but it was such a game effort having somebody come at him that early and fight back. He’s such a good horse.

“The first-up horse, he gave a good effort through the turn, and then we just kind of put him away. I kicked the [ear] plugs out off the turn and gave him a good holler, and he responded very well.”

Boston Bound registered his fourth straight win and 19^th lifetime in 86 starts. Owned by William Emmons, the 5-2 second choice returned $7.40 to his backers while raising his lifetime earnings to $264,003.

POTENT PICK-5 POOL: A carryover of $29,637 motivated players to go deep and bet $173,075 of “new money” into the 20-cent Pick-5 pool, for a grand total of $202,712.

Because of the prolific carryover, players who had winning tickets were getting a return of 102 percent, a rare but popular “negative takeout”.

After a sequence that saw winner’s odds of 4-1, 1-5, 5-2, 7-1 and 5-1, winning tickets were exchanged for $877.76.

KERN TOP ‘CAPPER: Del Kern hit the 20-cent Pick-5 and that was the catalyst in contest-regular Kern taking the first of 11 monthly installments of the 2026 Meadowlands Monthly Handicapping Contest.

He finished the night with a bankroll of $934.01 to not only take that money home, but also the $500 first prize in the $1,000 competition. Stefan Ferrara’s final tally of $840.76 was good for second and $250 in prize money.

By finishing 1-2, Kern and Ferrara have earned spots in the end-of-the-year, $10,000 invitation-only contest “final”, where only the 11 monthly top-two finishers will be eligible to participate.

The next $1,000 “qualifier” is on Friday, Feb. 20.

A LITTLE MORE: Colin Kelly, Austin Siegelman, Kyle Symington and Herschberger all tied atop the driver leaderboard on the program with a pair of winners apiece. … Rico Robinson topped the trainers with two walks down victory lane. … All-source wagering on the 14-race card totaled $2,627,845. … Racing resumes Sunday at 12:30 p.m., the first of four consecutive Sunday programs that will be contested at The Big M during 2026.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results

by Dave Little, for The Meadowlands