The four-card Meadowlands meet includes tonight’s New Jersey Classic Series finals before wrapping up on Saturday.

by Debbie Little

Before The Meadowlands’ four-day “Mini Meet” comes to an end on Saturday (Sept. 7), there’s still $1.6 million to hand out in the finals of the New Jersey Classic Series (NJCS).

The eight finals for 2- and 3-year-old males and females, will take place tonight (Sept. 6), with the trotters going for $250,000 per race and the pacers $150,000. In addition, the 2-year-old colt trotters and freshman and sophomore filly trotters each have a $100,000 consolation.

Typically, a card of this caliber featuring such stars as Hambletonian Oaks champ Warrawee Michelle, Earl Beal winner Sig Sauer and Shady Daisy victor Rocket Deo, would be a Big M Saturday night special, but with Sept. 7 already being so stakes laden, for the good of the sport, The Meadowlands had Friday on their mind.

“Nick [Salvi] and Scott [Warren] do a great job with that; they’re very logical,” Meadowlands chief operating officer/general manager Jason Settlemoir said of the track’s director/administrator of stakes races and racing secretary, respectively. “Obviously, we try to pivot if we can, if it makes sense for the sport. That’s a difficult job that Nick and Scott have.

“We try to pay attention so we’re not bumping into other people’s big races.”

Since racetracks do not operate in a bubble, every choice by every track has an impact and, according to Settlemoir, finding a way to keep everyone rowing in the same direction is important.

“Honestly, if they base completely off of us and what we’re doing, that would be fantastic, but that’s not the real world,” Settlemoir said with a laugh. “My biggest thing is being able to get the horses raced and get them in front of the proper audience customer-wise, so that our customers can benefit from it, too.

“I mean, look, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel that there were too many races at different places, but I try to look at all of the different racing opportunities as a good thing so that the owners can get their investment back on these horses.”

This is the third year for the NJCS and the second straight with an elims and finals format. These lucrative races are available to those sired in New Jersey as well those eligible to the New Jersey Standardbred Development Fund (NJSDF) races along with those by sires that stand and are registered in the state of New Jersey.

According to a Meadowlands press release sent out in 2023: “Adding the NJSDF horses will provide a welcome earning opportunity for the foals of mares that are housed within the state of New Jersey, whether sired by a stallion standing in New Jersey or not as well as providing a larger pool of horses eligible for nomination.

“The NJCS is an early closing event, which means a fresh start each year, so horses may be nominated at age 3 regardless of whether they were made eligible as a 2-year-old or not.”

For Settlemoir and his team, the first thing they look at when scheduling races like the NJCS is to not bump into another stakes race, which sometimes is impossible.

“At the end of the day, I want to try to get these horses where they have the drivers that they’re supposed to have,” Settlemoir said. “I don’t think it’s fair to the owners if they’ve been having a driver drive and then all of a sudden, another driver has to drive because of a stakes race somewhere else. I don’t think that’s fair to the horse. I don’t think it’s fair to the owner and I don’t think it’s fair to the customer, either.”

Following a five-week break, The Meadowlands will return on Friday (Oct. 18) with a special day card featuring Breeders Crown eliminations with a first race post of 12:30 p.m. There will also be Crown elims on Saturday (Oct. 19) with the finals for the $7-million event the following weekend on Oct. 25 and 26.

“We’ve been planning for it since we signed the agreement with the Breeders Crown Society,” Settlemoir said. “John [Campbell] and Moira [Fanning] and the team have been working right along and we’re excited about it.”

Settlemoir was only too happy to start discussing the year-end divisional championship series, but added that it’s nice to still have a little time before it all comes down to the Breeders Crown.

“I’m glad we’ve got what, how many weeks still, six?” Settlemoir said. “But, it’s never too soon to start talking about it. It’s when all the stars come together and a lot of the year-end awards are predicated upon those Breeders Crown championships and it’s always an honor to have those races.

“It’s great to have good partners like the Breeders Crown Society and the SBOA of New Jersey and for all of us to come together at The Meadowlands to showcase the sport’s brightest stars.”

MICHAEL LISA ON DRUMS

For those planning to go to The Meadowlands on Saturday night (Sept. 7) to watch the live card and all the simulcast action across North America, don’t miss out on the opportunity to catch the Past Masters. The band, which features Meadowlands track photographer Michael Lisa on drums, will be doing a free show originally scheduled for the Rooftop. With the threat of inclement weather, the concert has been moved indoors to Trackside. Post time for the Past Masters is 5:30 p.m. while the racing will have its normal 6:20 start time.