As the temperatures drop outside, harness racing heats up with the January 7, 2000 opening of the standardbred meet at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
The 155-date season features 204 stakes, carrying more than $19.5 million in purses, including three million-dollar events: the Meadowlands Pace on July 15, the Breeders Crown Trot on July 29 and the 75th edition of the Hambletonian, the closing day fixture on August 5.
Overnight purses open at record levels of $190,000 per night. Purses have been up every year at the Meadowlands since 1992 when the average was $104,000.
"Our intention is to try to continue the upward movement in purses with a goal of $200,000 per day in the Year 2000," noted Meadowlands Vice President and General Manager Chris McErlean.
With an eye toward Y2K issues the Meadowlands opted to bypass the traditional day after Christmas start.
"We wanted to avoid the millenium noise and not open on New Year's Eve weekend," said McErlean of the later opening. "We couldn't have opened on December 26 because of a football game at the Stadium. And we recognize the value of opening the meet with a strong start and a lot of momentum, which means waiting for the weekend. The later date, January 7, allows us to do that."
The Meadowlands, however, was committed to making up the four programs originally scheduled for December and accomplished this by dropping the spring intermission before the Championship Meet.
"The break was welcomed by many but to provide the additional racing opportunities for the horsemen, we won't have it this coming year," McErlean explained.
The Championship Meet will kick off on Friday, May 20 with the eliminations for the Miss New Jersey followed the next night by the eliminations for the SBOA/New Jersey Classic. The $250,000 Miss New Jersey Final and the $500,000 SBOA/New Jersey Classic, the richest of all state-bred races, will both take place on Saturday, June 3.
The popular winter stakes program reaches into the free for all pacing ranks for the opening night feature, the $100,000 Rambling Willie Invitational. Winners of the previous year's Meadowlands Pace, Graduate, Haughton and Breeders Crown along with the Triple Crown races will be among the invitees.
This year's Winter Series are all two preliminary legs and a final with the first group [Junior Trendsetter, Tender Loving Care, Horse & Groom, White Ruffles, Cape & Cutter, Chill Factor, Complex, Presidential, Super Bowl and Senior Trendsetter] wrapping up on the last weekend in January. The February 26 Winter Festival, traditionally one of the most successful nights of the racing year at the Meadowlands, features the finals of the Night Styles, Exit 16W, Matt's Scooter, Su Mac Lad, Aquarius and Overbid. This year a consortium of breeders, spearheaded by Brittany Farm's George Segal have guaranteed the Cape & Cutter and Blossom [April 5] finals at $75,000. The Overbid will come in at a guarantee of $100,000.
Two $300,000 stakes bring the winter/spring season to a close. The $300,000 Berry's Creek for three-year-old pacers is carded on May 13 and the $300,000 Graduate Final for free for all pacers is set for May 20. The Graduate will no longer visit other tracks but will have its 10 finalists determined in $50,000 eliminations on May 13, also at the Meadowlands.
Older horses will have many rich opportunities in 2000 at the Meadowlands. The Graduate, the $600,000 Haughton Memorial on July 8, the $275,000 Pacing Classic Final on July 15, the $100,000 US Pacing Championship on August 5 and the July 29 Breeders Crown Open Pace and Mare Pace, $300,000 and $250,000, respectively, and the new, yet-to-be named, $250,000 mares free for all on June 24 provide many opportunities to challenge pacers.
On the trotting side, all the stakes have been enriched. The $200,000 Cutler on June 10, the $200,000 Titan Cup on June 30 and the $500,000 Nat Ray on August 5, each are benefiting from $50,000 while the Breeders Crown Trot on July 29 has been doubled in value to a cool million dollars. Winners of Europe's prestigious Elitlopp, Lotteria and Prix d'Amerique will be invited to the Breeders Crown and the Nat Ray, earning byes into the finals.
The Meadowlands racing schedule is Tuesdays through Saturdays nights plus Super Bowl Sunday [January 30] in January. A switch to Wednesdays through Sundays [plus Monday, February 21 and Monday, May 29] in February through May. The track is dark Easter Sunday [April 23] but the other Sunday programs feature day racing. The schedule returns to Tuesdays through Saturdays for June, July and August.