Meadows Monday Memo

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE

Hollywood Casino at The Meadows will race its regular fall schedule this week, with action on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Next week, there will be no live racing on Thanksgiving Day.

NEW DRIVERS

Three new faces have joined The Meadows’ driving colony in the past few cards.  Justin Irvine has started making the trip from Ohio on a regular basis to compete.  He has started picking up multiple catch-drives daily and has six wins in just 33 drives.  Two newcomers from Kentucky, Zyler Maxwell and OD Johnson, also have recently made their local driving debuts.  Both have been working with the Rob Laffoon Stable.  Both drivers are 19 years old and have been racing in both Kentucky and Illinois.

BOOM, NO BOOM

Last Wednesday, two similarly named trotters competed at The Meadows.  In the fifth race, Boom Chica Boom finished third in a filly and mare non-winners of 4 trotting event.  Two races later, Chicka Boom competed in a non-winners of 2 trot, meaning that the duo could eventually end up in the same class.  Both are three-year-olds, yet there is no relation.  Boom Chica Boom is sired by Greenshoe out of a Kadabra mare, and was bred in Canada.  Chicka Boom is an Ohio-bred by Long Tom.  Their names aren’t the only common link, however, as both are trained by local conditioner Rich Perfido.

THURSDAY FEATURE

Thursday’s feature race will be the $18,000 Open Handicap Trot, set as Race #1 on the 14-race card.  Winslow has been assigned post 6 in the six-horse field after winning last time by two lengths in 1:53 in the top level.  The Dana Kahrig trainee, driven regularly by Aaron Merriman, is now 5-for-19 on the season.

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