$1,054,350 in purses for Kindergarten Classic Finals

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Longtime Meadowlands fans might be feeling a bit nostalgic this weekend about a time long ago when the harness racing track hosted a handful of stakes races for 2-year-olds and called the event “Million-Dollar Babies”.

On Saturday (Nov. 13) night, the Kindergarten Classic Series Finals for freshmen of each sex and gait will bring back memories – and huge money – as the 13-race program will be highlighted by the four dashes that will go for purses totaling $1,054,350.

The biggest star of the night will attempt to keep shining in the ninth race filly pace, which sports a purse of $220,110. The horse to beat is the Chris Ryder-trained Niki Hill, whose last start resulted in a dominant win in the $600,000 Breeders Crown.

Brett Pelling student Hammering Hank, off a big win in the final Kindergarten leg a week ago, tops the 11^th race $238,700 colts and geldings pace. He’s lost only twice in his nine-race career, both times to Breeders Crown champion Monte Miki.

Pretender and Fast As The Wind are both off final-leg victories heading into what appears to be a wide-open $300,960 colts and geldings trot in race five while Palermo Hanover and Misswalner Fashion, also both off final-leg scores, are the ones to watch in the seventh race $294,580 filly trot.

The season-ending scrum for resume-boosting victories will then continue next week (Nov. 20) at The Big M on “Fall Final Four/TVG Finals Night” when many divisional honors and, quite possibly, Horse of the Year will be decided on the final circle-worthy date of 2021 on the harness racing calendar.

That evening, there will be four events for 2-year-olds and four for 3-year-olds and up, with estimated purses in excess of $2.5 million.

A STACKED TOP 10: The Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll weekly Top 10 came out Tuesday with no changes.

The Top 10, from top to bottom are Test Of Faith, Jujubee, Lyons Sentinel, Niki Hill, Bella Bellini, Allywag Hanover, Perfect Sting, Venerable, Ecurie D DK and Atlanta.

SIMULCAST SPECIAL: Thursday (Nov. 11) afternoon at Dover Downs they’ll be plenty of firepower on display as the five-eighths-mile oval will host four divisions of the Matron Stakes for 3-year-olds with purses totaling just under $600,000.

Bella Bellini, In Range, Test Of Faith, Grace Hill, Fire Start Hanover, Lou’s Pearlman, Rockyroad Hanover, Abuckabett Hanover and Charlie May are some of the horses who will be competing on the card.

Watch and wager on the entire Dover Downs card at The Meadowlands. Post time for the first race at Dover is 4:30 p.m.

LIVE AT THE BIG M: Racing continues at The Meadowlands through the end of the year with the usual Friday-Saturday schedule, with one exception, as there will be no live racing on Dec. 24 or Dec. 25.

The Big M’s live in-house simulcast presentation gets underway at 5:47 p.m. with the first race at 6:20 p.m.

GET YA FREE PROGRAMS HERE! Talk about a great deal! Free program pages for every race of every Meadowlands race card are always available. Just go to playmeadowlands.com to access the no-cost past performances.

MANY LOW TAKEOUT OPPORTUNITIES: The Meadowlands offers bettors a half-dozen opportunities nightly to take advantage of wagers with a low 15 per cent takeout, they are:

• 20-cent Pick-5: Race 1
• 20-cent Survivor Pick-7: Race 3
• 50-cent Pick-4: Race 6
• 20-cent Pick-6: Race 8
• 50-cent Pick-4: Race 10
• 10-cent Pentafecta/Hi-5: Race 13* (*-Race 14 on Friday)

WHO DOES BROWER LIKE? For expert selections and analysis of every Big M card, check out track oddsmaker Dave Brower’s race reviews.

For Brower’s input, which is generally available 48 hours before every card, go to playmeadowlands.com, then click on the “handicapping” tab and go to “race reviews”.

GET SOCIAL: Everything Meadowlands is available by going on Twitter. You can check in with the Big M team for early changes, racing information and staff selections by going to @themeadowlands or #playbigm.

On race nights, stay in touch with Jessica Otten (@JessicaOtten1), Dave Brower (@eedoogie), Dave Little (@DaveLittleBigM), Ken Warkentin (@kenvoiceover), Shades Demsky (@ShadesOnRacing) and Edison Hatter (@Edison_1999_).

COME OUT AND PLAY: It’s always best when watching and wagering on the action at The Meadowlands to come out and be there in person, but for those who either live too far away or can’t make it out to the races for any reason, they can still experience the best harness racing in the world several ways.

First of all, an affordable way to view not only the action at The Big M, but virtually all harness and Thoroughbred tracks is to get a subscription to the Roberts Television Network. For more information, go to rtn.tv.

There are a handful of Advance-Deposit Wagering spots where one can wager on Meadowlands races, one such sight where you can make bets and watch the action live is the Television Games Network. For more information, go to tvg.com.

BIG GREEN AT HARRISBURG: Where’s harness racing’s next big star coming from?

It might be from the Standardbred Horse Sales Company “Black Book” Sale in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

There were two especially big splashes made on Monday, as Brad Grant took Atlanta’s sister, In Italian (Chapter Seven-Hemi Blue Chip), for a day-high $750,000.

Swanky Hanover (Muscle Hill-Secret Magic), Manchego’s sister, sold for $700,000 to Jeff Snyder.

For the sales catalog, sales results, buyers, cosigners and more, go to https://theblackbook.com/catalog-search.php.

WINNERS FOR CHARITY: Local New Jersey charities who are 501C3 organizations that would like to have a night out at the races for a good cause should inquire about being part of the promotion that takes place on December 4. The Charity Handicapping Contest will offer a total pool of $15,000 to be doled out among the 10 charities who will be competing.

For those who want further information about getting into the contest, go to http://playmeadowlands.com/News.aspx?id=22272.

RAVENS-DOLPHINS THURSDAY NIGHT: This week’s Thursday (Nov. 11) Night Football game has the Baltimore Ravens traveling to the Sunshine State to take on the Miami Dolphins in an 8:20 p.m. kickoff.

The Ravens are a 7½-point favorite, but if you don’t care for point spreads, you can get the Ravens to win, regardless of by how much, at -390.

If prop bets are your thing, you can get Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson to throw for more or less than 235½ yards. Either way, the odds are -113.

You can catch all the action in the FanDuel Sportsbook, inside the grandstand at The Meadowlands.

The book is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-1 a.m.; Friday 10 a.m.-2 a.m.; Saturday 7 a.m.-2 a.m. and Sunday 8 a.m.-12 a.m.

For more information, call 877-689-0662.

From The Meadowlands