When it comes to the purse for Meadowlands Pace 50, every little bit helps
Jeff Gural’s Early Closer Participation fee has bolstered this year’s purse.
by Debbie Little
It’s been more than a dozen years since the Meadowlands Pace final went for $1 million. However, thanks to The Big M’s $400 Early Closer Participation payments (ECPP), the purse is on the rise.
Meadowlands president/chief executive officer Jeff Gural came up with the idea for the racing version of pay-to-play, believing the one-time payment per eligible 2-year-old would help bolster the purses of several races until the much-anticipated casino hopefully gets the green light.
Foals of 2024 are made eligible, according to The Big M’s website, by their sire being nominated via a “payment of 50 per cent of the cost of one 2024 breeding by Feb. 15, 2026.”
Since the ECPP is for freshmen, the Pace participants are not required to pony up anything in addition to their normal payments. They just reap the benefits as do participants in this year’s Jerry Silverman Memorial, Shady Daisy, Cane Pace, Stanley Dancer Memorial, and Del Miller Memorial.
Although it’s too early to tell if eliminations will be needed on Saturday (July 4) for the 50thedition of the Meadowlands’ signature event, the fact that the purse for the final is expected to be more than in recent years could definitely be a draw.
The purse for the 2025 Meadowlands Pace final was $656,000 with $300,000 added money, whereas this year, there is an additional $100,000 in added money ($400,000) for an estimated purse of $800,000.
Although not as significant a bump as the purse for the Pace, no one competing would balk at the increase in added money for the Silverman ($30,000), Shady Daisy ($35,000), Cane ($70,000), Dancer ($30,000), or Miller ($55,000).
Obviously, should a referendum for a casino at The Meadowlands be placed on the ballot and the residents of the Garden State vote yes, this once-in-a-horse’s-lifetime fee would no longer be necessary as the expected landslide from on-site gamblers would once again fund plentiful purses.
Less than half of the last 13 Pace finals have gone for $700,000 or more, with the purse hitting a recent low of $600,000 in 2022. It should be noted that the first two editions of the Pace in 1977 and 1978, went for $212,500 and $280,000, respectively, before jumping up to $750,000 in year three.
From 1980 to 2012, only twice did the purse go below a million, dropping to $902,500 in 1987 and $852,000 in 1989. The record high came in 1984, when On The Road Again walked away with the winner’s share of $1,293,000.
If the purse for this year’s Pace final is over $600,000 — the purse guaranteed for the Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Open Pace and estimated for the Little Brown Jug — it would be the highest in the division in the U.S. With the current exchange rate with the Canadian dollar, should the Pace purse go over $720,000, it would be the highest this year in North America, surpassing the Pepsi North America Cup.
With seven of the horses in Dave Little’s Road to the Meadowlands Pace Top 10 expected to be competing this weekend, as well as other eligibles that have yet to make the list, the lead up to Pace 50 looks to be accelerating.
Unlike some years where an overwhelming favorite for the Pace lessened the need for elims by scaring away competition, this year is somewhat different.
Going off what happened a couple of weeks ago in the North America Cup, Odds On Mr Mamba, Brandon Blvd, and Beau Jangles seem to have moved themselves to the front of the class, at least for now. But with tonight’s (June 26) Messenger Stakes final at Yonkers and other races also taking place or having already taken place on both sides of the border, as John Campbell would say, the picture is not yet completely clear.
