Meadowlands announces 2009 stakes schedule

December 19, 2008

The $1.5 million Hambletonian on Aug. 8 and $1 million Meadowlands Pace on July 18 headline nearly $19.5 million in stakes races scheduled for the 2009 harness meet at the Meadowlands. The 151-date season kicks off Jan. 1 and runs through Aug. 21.

The sport's premier events for 3-year-old trotters, the Hambletonian, and $750,000 Hambletonian Oaks for fillies, will be contested Saturday, Aug. 8. Sophomore trotting colts also have the $350,000 Stanley Dancer Memorial on July 17, while the fillies have the $300,000 Del Miller Memorial on July 17. Both races will be contested in divisions this year.

In addition to the track's signature event, the $1 million Meadowlands Pace on July 18, 3-year-old pacing colts are showcased in the $225,000 Berry's Creek on May 9, the $500,000 Anthony Abbatiello New Jersey Classic on June 13, and the $250,000 Oliver Wendell Holmes on Aug. 8.

The top older trotters and pacers have plenty of rich stakes opportunities before them, most notably the $1.7 million Breeders Crown Championships on closing night, Aug. 21. The Classic Series also makes a stop at the Meadowlands on May 1 and 2. The season for veteran trotters includes the Su Mac Lad Series, which begins March 20, followed by the $200,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial on May 16, the $200,000 Titan Cup on July 4, and the $300,000 Nat Ray Invitational on Aug. 8.

The lengthy stakes season for older pacers begins with the three-week Presidential Series on Jan. 10 and continues with the $250,000 Graduate on May 16, the $600,000 William R. Haughton Memorial on July 11 and the $325,000 U.S. Pacing Championship on Aug. 8.

Pacing mares have a variety of Winter Series engagements on their dance cards, as well as the $50,000 Thomas Strada Memorial on April 11, the $100,000 Matriarch on May 10, the $225,000 Lady Liberty on June 27, and the $200,000 Golden Girls on Aug. 1.

In addition to the Breeders Crown and Classic Series, their trotting counterparts have the $100,000 Perretti Matchmaker on June 21 and the first leg of the Miss Versatility on May 10 (the two subsequent legs of the Miss Versatility will be raced at Vernon and Tioga Downs, while the final will be contested at Delaware, Ohio during Little Brown Jug Week).

The premier events for 3-year-old pacing fillies are the $375,000 Mistletoe Shalee on Aug. 8, the $200,000 Thomas D'Altrui Miss New Jersey on June 13, the $150,000 Tarport Hap on July 25, and the $68,000 Historic Ladyship on July 3.

Two year olds take center stage in a quartet of stakes during the last two weeks of the meet. The $475,000 Peter Haughton Memorial and $475,000 Merrie Annabelle for trotters will be contested on the Hambletonian Day card on Aug. 8. The $400,000 Sweetheart and $350,000 Woodrow Wilson for pacers will move to closing night, Aug. 21. The top of New Jersey's freshman class will compete in a quartet of $200,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Championships on a single night, Thursday, July 23. Rounding out the stakes schedule for 2 year olds are the Historic Series, the week of July 1, and the Countess Adios and Niatross, on Aug. 6 and 7, respectively.

The 2009 harness meet runs Thursday, Jan. 1 through Friday, Aug. 21, with live racing Wednesday through Saturday evenings (7 p.m.) and Sunday afternoons (1:10 p.m.) through April 5. A special Presidents' Day matinee (1:10 p.m.) will be run Monday, Feb. 16; the track will be dark Wednesday, Feb. 18. (with files from Meadowlands)

The schedule shifts to Wednesday through Saturday evenings beginning April 8, with matinee cards on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 10; Memorial Day, Monday, May 25; Father's Day, June 21; and Hambletonian Day, August 8 [11:30 a.m.].

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