Meadows Monday Memo

RACING SCHEDULE for the week

We are in our winter 3-day-per-week harness racing schedule, Wednesday through Friday afternoons at 12:45.  This schedule will remain in place through the end of March.

SUPERFECTA PAYOFFS

Superfectas at The Meadows have been paying well throughout the month of January.  For the most recent week, the 39 races contested resulted in an average payoff of $270.50 per race, for a 20-cent Superfecta ticket.  We have had one Superfecta during January that was not hit, and the full net pool was carried over to the next race, which resulted in a significantly larger pool.

PANTALEANO POSTS STRONG WEEK

Jim Pantaleano posted four wins on the Friday card, his best day at The Meadows since returning to near full-time local action.  Driver Dan Charlino is also putting up good numbers to start the season, winning three races and finishing in the top-3 five times in his first 10 drives of the year.  Trainer Brady Jenson, who has raced at The Meadows the past couple of winters after spending his summers in Minnesota, is starting to do more driving.  He has won two of 10 local drives so far this season and sports a UDRS driver rating of .311.

PRESTO STABLE RACING WELL

Local trainer Brandon Presto, who posted 62 wins in 2022, has won 7 of his first 36 starts in 2023.  His horses have been in the top-3 in 17 of 36 starts, for UTRS rating of .293.  His 7 wins put him fourth in the standings behind Ron Burke (14), Dirk Simpson (10), and Stacey Currie (9).  Currie had another strong week, including a Friday afternoon $20,000 claiming event, where her two horses, Caviart Val and Newbie, finished first and second.

POST POSITION 5 vs THE RAIL

At many tracks, the more inside you draw, the better you finish.  At The Meadows, the trend for many seasons in a row is that post 5 ends up winning the most races.  That trend is continuing in 2023, with post 5 winning at a 16.4% clip.  Post position 1, on the other hand, is only winning at an 11.1% rate, which is only sixth best right now.  By comparison, another 5/8 mile track, Miami Valley in Ohio, is seeing horses from post 1 win at a 19.9% rate.  It certainly presents a challenge for handicappers that see a horse drawing inside and expecting it to be an advantage.

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