December 26, 2000
Trainers Mark Ford and Joe Anderson will each have entrants in the feature races that will highlight opening weekend at the Meadowlands, December 29-30.
Post time for both nights is 7:30 p.m.
Ford will send out Star Acadian [post eight] in Friday night's sixth race, a $45,000 open trot, and Gallo Blue Chip [post three with Daniel Dube driving] in Saturday night's featured $100,000 Rambling Willie Invitational pace.
Gallo Blue Chip will be making his 30th and final start of the year in the Rambling Willie before a well-deserved rest until April. The 2000 Meadowlands Pace winner, the only three-year-old in the eight horse field, brings in a record of 19 wins, five seconds and one third for a 25 of 29 in-the-money rate. He has a seasonal bankroll of $2,428,816.
The Magical Mike gelding, owned by Martin Scharf of Lawrence, New York, had a busy autumn, winning the Breeders Crown and finishing second in both the Windy City Pace at Maywood and the Provincial Cup, his last start on December 10 at Windsor Raceway.
The Rambling Willie drew [from the rail out]: Time Share N [Mike Lachance], Rambaran [John Campbell], Gallo Blue Chip [Daniel Dube], Mattuity [Luc Ouellette], Red Bow Tie [Luc Ouellette], House of Fun [Richard Silverman], Noble Ability [Cat Manzi] and Color Me Best [Eric Ledford].
Star Acadian, who moved into Ford's barn on the first of December, made his last three starts at Woodbine, posting two wins and a fifth. The five-year-old horse has finished in the money in 17 of 38 starts in 1999, adding $140,920 for a career bankroll of $205,576.
Color Me Best in the Rambling Willie and Million Dollar Bye [post 10] in the open trot are the two feature race entrants from the stable of Joe Anderson. Eric Ledford, who will be based at the Meadowlands for the first time this coming meet, drew the driving assignment on both.
Color Me Best won his last two starts at Balmoral Park in Illinois to improve his record to seven wins, five seconds and three thirds from 27 starts this year. His 2000 earnings of $238,935 pushed his career bankroll to $680,881. The five-year-old paced a world record 1:48 in 1999.
Million Dollar Bye won in his last attempt, an open trot on December 5 at Balmoral. The four-year-old by Armbro Charger has a record of nine wins, seven seconds and four thirds from 28 starts for nearly $249,000 this year and more than $531,000 career.
The field for the trot: Elvis T [John Campbell], Rum Boogie [Jimmy Takter], Duke's Ranger [Carl Cito Jr.], My Attorney Bernie [Ron Pierce], Psychic Spirit [Cat Manzi], Hope I Can [David Miller], Victory Margin [John Campbell], Star Acadian [Ron Pierce], Quiz [John Campbell] and Million Dollar Bye [Eric Ledford].
When the entry box closed on Tuesday, there were 497 horses entered for the 12 races on Friday night and 13 races on Saturday night, opening weekend at the Meadowlands.
There were 281 entrants for the Friday program and 216 for the Saturday card.
Post time for both the Friday and Saturday programs is 7:30 p.m.
A look back at the 2000 racing season, a sneak preview of the upcoming meet and a celebration of 25 years of racing will all be rolled into the Racing from the Meadowlands "Preview Show" which will air on Wednesday, December 27 on Fox Sports Net.
The program will fill the 12:30-1 a.m. slot on Fox. It will be replayed January 2 and also be available on TRN.
Ken Warkentin, Dave Brower, Heather Vitale and Sam McKee will provide the commentary.
Racing from the Meadowlands, the nightly recap program, returns with the opening of the harness meet on Friday, December 29 in the same 12:30 a.m. timeslot.
Veteran handicapper Dave Brower will be providing the daily race analysis, selections and morning line when harness racing returns to the Meadowlands, starting Friday, December 29, 2000.
Brower, who also is the chart caller for Sports Eye and a co-host of the nightly Racing from the Meadowlands program on Fox Sports Net, will return to these duties after a one-year sabbatical.