Return of Final Four Among Many Changes at
Meadowlands 2013
By Bill Finley
A major revamping of the 2-year-old stakes schedule and
return to fall racing head a list of changes that will be implemented
when the Meadowlands resumes racing in 2013.
The Woodrow Wilson and the Sweetheart have been
dropped from the Meadowlands racing schedule. Their
place will be taken by the return of the "Final Four" races for
2-year-olds, the Governor's Cup, the Three Diamonds, the
Valley Victory and the Goldsmith Maid. Those races began
at Garden State Park and have been looking for a permanent
home after the South Jersey track closed in 2000. They
were last contested at Chester in 2011.
"I'm going to shift things
around so that the majority of
2-year-old money will be in
the latter half of the year, "
Meadowlands owner Jeff
Gural said. "We will reward those trainers who are a little
more patient with their 2-year-olds and, hopefully, we won't
see as many breakdowns and will make it easier for horses
to come back at three. Hopefully, guys will go easy at the
beginning of the year because the vast majority of purse
money is going to be Lexington, the Breeders Crown, the
Matron and my races. All the big money will be out there
from late September to late November and I think that will
shift the focus on 2-year-olds racing a little later in year."
Gural said the purses for the Final Four races have yet to
be determined but he expected they would be comparable
to what was offered when they were last held in 2011.
The Meadowlands meet will end Hambletonian Day in
2013, rather than two weeks after the track's biggest event.
Gural said he would re-open the Saturday after
Thanksgiving and continue to race through Hambletonian
Day 2014. The extra stretch on the calendar won't, however,
mean more racing days as Gural plans to drop Thursday
night racing whenever Harrah's Philadelphia is open.
With fall racing the Meadowlands once again becomes an
option for the Breeders Crown. Gural said he would like to
host the Breeders Crown races for older horses in 2014 and
beyond.
"I know there is some sentiment to having all 12 on the
same day," he said. "Having been there for that I think by
the tenth or eleventh race the place starts to empty out.
Personally, I think it's more appealing if the 2 and 3-year-old
races are separate. We would love to have the whole card,
but we just don't have the money."
Gural had no updates on his search for a new general
manager at the Meadowlands other than to say he has been
contacted by several candidates.
(harnessracingupdate.com)
