Celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Meadowlands, Part 2

by Bob Heyden

Part 1 is here.

In this installment, in no particular order, we’ll take a look at 15 participants/moments that very much defined the phenomenon known now for a half century as The Meadowlands.

1. Every Horse of the Year from 1977 (Green Speed) to 2024 (Twin B Joe Fresh) competed the very same season at The Meadowlands. No other track comes close.

2. Fifty-eight days after America celebrated its 200th birthday, The Meadowlands debuted on Sept. 1, 1976.

3. Debut years for Big M driving stars: John Campbell (1978), Bill O’Donnell (1979), Ron Pierce (full time, 1987), George Brennan (1994), Dave Miller (1999), Yannick Gingras (2003), Brian Sears (2003), Andy Miller (2006), Tim Tetrick (2007), Dexter Dunn (2011 for a cup of coffee but 2019 full bore).

4. The three most dominant stallions of the first quarter century at The Meadowlands all had their first 2YO crops step onto the track in 1976: Albatross, Super Bowl, and Speedy Crown.

5. John Gotti had his own betting window in Pegasus.

6. Canadians flourished at The Meadowlands: Ray and Larry Remmen, John and Jim Campbell, Bill O’Donnell, the connections of Cam Fella, Clint Galbraith with Niatross, and the connections of Triple Crown winners Marion Marauder, Blissful Hall, Western Dreamer and Glidemaster.

7. Down Under horses/horsemen seemed to also love it in East Rutherford: Ross Croghan, Brett Pelling, Noel Daley, Mark Harder, Kelvin Harrison, Chris Ryder and Nifty Norman. The first 1:55 winner was Young Quinn under the tutelage of Charlie Hunter.

8. Sweden has had a huge say in the now 50-year history of The Meadowlands: Hakan Wallner, Berndt Lindstedt, Jan Johnson, the Nordins, Per Eriksson, Jimmy Takter, Stig Johansson, and now Nancy Takter and Marcus Melander who’ve won three of the last four Hambletonians.

9. Norway was kind enough to send us Ulf Thoresen and Per Henriksen to capture the 1986 Hambletonian with Nuclear Kosmos and later Trond Smedshammer with the 2004 Triple Crown winner Windsong’s Legacy.

10. World records were the norm at the Meadowlands. Every race milestone from 1:50 down to 1:46 was established there. From Nihilator (1:49.3) on Hambletonian Day 1985 to Bulldog Hanover (1:45.4) in the summer of 2022.

11. The first Campbell to win a race at The Meadowlands, was Bob, a veteran East Coast horseman with At’All.

12. Fifteen of the 16 richest races ever held were contested at The Meadowlands.

13. Six Dancers drove at The Meadowlands in its first full meet (Sept. 1, 1976 through Aug. 1, 1977): Stanley, Donald, Sonny, Harold, Sr., Vernon, and Ron. The Dancer name was easily the most prominent in New Jersey racing history.

14. Who had the most drives at The Meadowlands on night one? Lew Williams (seven starts, one win).

15. About a decade and a half ago Canadian star Randy Waples, son of Hall of Famer Ron Waples, had just recorded his first $10 million driving season. When asked about his accomplishment Randy said, “It’s a great milestone, but unless you’ve done it at The Meadowlands it really doesn’t matter as much.”