Earlier this month, Hollywood Casino at the Meadows hosted the last six-figure Stakes Races of the year, the 2024 two-year-old Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championships. The Thursday, September 5 card got started with a bang as ROSE and PAPI GRAD took center stage in Race 5 to contest the two-year-old filly pacing PASS Championship. ROSE was able to defeat PAPI GRAD earlier this season in a race that saw PAPI GRAD get away last early from the outside post. The scenario was different early this time around with PAPI GRAD starting from the rail in the $252,000 Final and getting away much closer, but the end result was the same as ROSE (Yannick Gingras, Ron Burke) got the jump on PAPI GRAD in the last quarter and was able to win comfortably by over a length in the end. The next race, the two-year-old filly trotting PASS Championship, saw the biggest surprise of the day as SHES A SHOE IN (Mark MacDonald, Ray Schnittker) was able to pull off the 16-1 upset. SHES IN A SHOE IN came up the passing lane in the stretch to win and paid $35.00 for the win.
The two-year-old colt and gelding trot looked like a race where a majority of the field was in with a serious chance, but it was MESHUGGAH (Scott Zeron, Marcus Melander) who ultimately won. Like SHES A SHOE IN, MESHUGGAH saved ground and took advantage of the passing lane late to secure his PASS Championship victory. The young trotter has been very solid in his brief six-race career so far. In the final Championship of the afternoon for two-year-old colt and gelding pacers, PAPI’S ROCKET (Ronnie Wrenn Jr., Ron Burke) once again used the passing lane to secure a 7-1 upset and the second Championship of the day for trainer Ron Burke. The next few weeks with see the Keystone Classic Stakes races and the Pennsylvania Fair Finals take place to officially round out the 2024 Stakes season at the Meadows.
After the brief break, racing will return to the Meadows this Wednesday, September 25. The featured race on the card will be the sixth race, the Keystone Classic for three-year-old filly trotters. Despite drawing an outside post, #7 DRAW THE LINE looks to clearly be the one to beat on paper as she holds a lot of back class from some Grand Circuit races this season. Most recently, she picked up a check in the PA Sire Stakes Final from a tough Post 8 draw. She does have plenty of gate speed and that should help her out in this spot, although there does appear to be some other speed if they want to offer her any early resistance. Nonetheless, I still expect that she’ll prevail in the end.
Underneath, however, I think there’s a chance for value in the form of #4 PJ’S DREAM. She draws well in the center of the gate and returns back to the Meadows where she’s been very solid in her three most recent tries. Those efforts have all been with Aaron Merriman, who she’s reunited with as well. Last time out she was beaten by #8 HAPPY CHOPPER, but she gets the post advantage on that rival today and did make a break in their most recent encounter that saw her lose all chance before the start. Keystone Classic races will continue at the Meadows for the remaining three-year-old divisions the rest of this week and conclude with the two-year-old divisions next week. Best of luck in all your plays at the Meadows!
