The Meadowlands saw its first $3-million night of the year on Saturday, Jan. 28, as $3,090,000 was wagered on the 12-race card, a slight increase from the $2,991,548 wagered on the last Saturday of January in 2011.
A big reason for the season-high handle was on-track wagering of $510,475, an increase of 27.8 percent from the on-track handle of $399,571 in 2011. The wagering was aided by a Pick 5 carryover of $16,400, which in turn led to a total pool of $96,962. Another contributor to the on-track handle was that the Big M was hosting a qualifier for the 2013 World Harness Handicapping Championship, although there was also a handicapping qualifier on the same card last year for the National Harness Handicapping Championship.
The $3-million level was reached just three times in 2012: March 5 ($3,090,597), July 16 ($3,917,996