Hoping to continue the momentum that was put in motion two years ago, The Meadowlands is once again partnering with the TV team at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) to show some of the biggest harness stakes there are to a nationwide Thoroughbred-centric audience on the networks of FOX Sports.
On Saturday, April 29, “America’s Day at the Races” will feature the Opening Night program at Churchill Downs and, as the Churchill races are shown, so too will the card from The Big M, on the show which will be telecast from 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. (The show will be on FS1 until 9 p.m., then switch to FS2 after that.)
The Meadowlands’ Jessica Otten will once again be the on-camera talent for the broadcasts. She will be joined by Gabe Prewitt for several shows beginning in July.
There will be a total of eight FOX Sports shows featuring Big M harness races. The first two will show both the evening program from Churchill Downs in addition to the trotters and pacers from the New Jersey mile oval.
Historically, presentations such as these never showed harness races, opting to just show Thoroughbred action, but management at The Big M thought that was something that needed to change.
“We wanted to have a vehicle where people who would normally just be exposed to Thoroughbred races would have a chance to see our races as well,” said Jason Settlemoir, Big M Chief Operating Officer and General Manager. “Teaming up with the TV crew at the NYRA has provided us a chance to show our races to an audience that we hope will take to our product. We feel that last year’s exposure on these FOX Network shows has helped us, at least in small part, to have what has so far been a tremendous year of business at The Meadowlands.”
The schedule for when Meadowlands’ races will be shown on either FS1 or FS2 is as follows:
- Saturday, April 29 (6-11 p.m.)
- Friday, May 19 (9-11:30 p.m.)
- Saturday, May 20 (8-11 p.m.) - Arthur J. Cutler Memorial FFA Trot
- Saturday, July 1 (9-11 p.m.) - Crawford Farms and Six Pack FFA Trots, Dave Brower Memorial and Perfect Sting FFA Paces
- Saturday, July 8 (9-11 p.m.) - Meadowlands Pace eliminations, Graduate finals
- Saturday, July 15 (10 p.m.-12 a.m.) - Meadowlands Pace, William Haughton Memorial, Hambletonian Maturity plus other stakes for total purses of $2.5 million)
- Saturday, Aug. 5 (1-5 p.m. and 6-7 p.m.) - Hambletonian, Hambletonian Oaks plus other stakes for total purses of $3.5 million
- Friday, Sept. 8 (9-11 p.m.) - New Jersey Classic Series finals
“[Meadowlands’ President and Chief Executive Officer] Jeff [Gural] and I have always thought that showing our product to a national television audience would go a long way toward expanding our fan base,” said Settlemoir, “and these shows on FOX Sports are a great way for us to accomplish this.
“For those who might not be aware, The Meadowlands is not your normal chalky harness venue. The Big M offers some of the most ultra-competitive races in the industry, be it Thoroughbred or Standardbred. Hopefully, we can get some lifelong Thoroughbred bettors to give us a try after seeing what we have to offer.”
With many dashes offering full 10-horse fields and winning favourites that score at a value-to-the-player friendly 35 per cent, The Big M is at the top of heap in the nighttime market handle race – regardless of breed – with an average well in excess of $3-million per card.
Free past performances for every race of every Meadowlands card are available by going to playmeadowlands.com.
(Meadowlands)