Meadowlands

Jairo Rendon was enjoying one of the best years of his career. He finished the Monmouth meet with 66 winners, just 10 winners behind perennial Monmouth riding champion Paco Lopez. He stuck around a few more days to ride some at the all-turf meet at the Meadowlands, but after riding there Sept. 21, he was ready to go home. After the short Meadowlands meet ended, Rendon would have no problem heading to Aqueduct or maybe Gulfstream Park, two places where he could make a lot of money and ride a...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Miriam's Fire in New York.   Showcasing Filly On Fire In Debut Pura Vida Investments' Miriam's Fire (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) clawed out a neck victory in her racetrack bow at Belmont at the Big A (video). Trained by Mike Maker, she was bred by Charlotte Greenway. A frequent visitor to the sales ring, the bay was a 30,000gns foal buy at Tattersalls in...

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed legislation that will extend the $20 million annual purse enhancement for horse racing in the state, with the appropriation now running through to 2029, the Governor's office announced Friday. Monmouth Park will receive $10 million annually for purses, with the remaining $10 million going toward purses at the Meadowlands Racetrack and Freehold Raceway, as well as money earmarked for bonuses for state-sired horses and breeders' awards. "Given the critical importance of the horse racing industry to not only the state's economy, but to...

Monmouth Park has named Matt Dinerman the new track announcer for the 2024 racing season, which gets underway on Saturday, May 11. The 2024 Monmouth racing season runs through Sept. 15, after which Dinerman will take the mic at the Meadowlands for the all-turf, 10-day season in East Rutherford. "I'm delighted to be joining the team at Monmouth," said Dinerman, a 31-year-old native of California. "It's an honor to be selected as their next voice.  Monmouth is a beautiful racetrack with a large, enthusiastic fan base that supports great racing. ...

Douglas Thomas, a graded-stakes winning jockey who raced primarily at Monmouth Park in the 1970's and 80's, died Mar. 9 at the age of 78, according to an obituary written by his son Robert Thomas and sent by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey. An earner of over $21 million over the course of his career, the Canadian native retired in 1997 having made over 18,000 starts with a win total in excess of 2,000 races. Many of his winner's circle photos took place at tracks across New Jersey...

by Frank Drucker, on behalf of the Lederman family There can't possibly be another track announcer as unique as Larry Lederman. Hell, there can't possibly be another human as unique as Larry Lederman. Lawrence Brian Lederman died Mar. 5, at his home in East Windsor, New Jersey, weeks after his 67th birthday. That Larry survived more than a dozen years with an inoperable brain tumor (winning that game of under/over) was a testament to his acerbic wit, unyielding faith, biting sense of humor and a shrewdness/stubbornness to realize the multitudes...

A bill that would have extended annual purse subsidy payments made to New Jersey's Thoroughbred and Standardbred tracks was vetoed Wednesday by Gov. Phil Murphy. The bill called for the $20 million subsidy, which is split between the two breeds, to continue through 2029. The money has already been approved for 2024. The extension was to run from 2025 through 2029. Murphy vetoed 12 bills in all, using what is called a pocket veto. That type of veto applies only to bills sent to the governor's desk in the final...

On Nov. 3, Meadowlands owner Jeff Gural announced that the track was banning 33 trainers and owners, including Howard Taylor, after claiming that evidence and exhibits track officials were able to retain from the doping trials that had taken place over the previous months revealed a list of individuals who had purchased banned substances. An email sent to TDN listed Taylor as being among those who had allegedly purchased EPO. On Tuesday, Taylor fired back. According to an email from Tilden Katz of Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies, Taylor has sued...

Effective Dec. 1, the Meadowlands will ban 33 harness horsemen after evidence and exhibits track officials acquired from the U.S. Attorney's Office revealed the names of trainers and owners who had purchased banned substances from individuals who were charged with manufacturing and selling performance-enhancing drugs. The delay in imposing the ban was put in place in order to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest because many of the trainers are pointing horses to races run at the Meadowlands during November in which they could meet horses owned by Meadowlands...

Some two years ago, Randall Lane, the chief content officer for Forbes, and Bob Daugherty, an investor and educator, met for dinner and the conversation turned to horse racing. Both are fans of racing and they started to talk about why the sport isn't nearly as popular as the four major sports. The answer, they concluded, is that in baseball, basketball, football and hockey, the sports center around teams, leagues and standings. People fall in love with their teams, they root for them, they pay to see them play, they...

Madeline Rowland's journey to becoming a jockey reached the next level last Sunday when she scored her first win on the NYRA circuit over the Aqueduct main track. Still just a teenager and already over the million-dollar mark in earnings, Rowland knew early on that her future was in horses. "I always grew up around horses," she said. "My dad trained steeplechase horses before he passed and my mom galloped for a little bit and helped my dad train. When I was 12 or 13, I started pony racing and...

Due to a forecast calling for heavy rain, live racing has been cancelled for Saturday, Oct. 1, for the all-turf Monmouth-at-Meadowlands meet, the track announced on Friday. The six races scheduled for Saturday will be extras when entries are taken Tuesday, Oct. 4, for the Friday, Oct. 7, card. The five remaining all-turf cards following tonight's program will take place Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 22 with the exception of Saturday, Oct. 15, when Far Hills will feature its 101st steeplechase meet.