Racing at Hollywood Casino at the Meadows took a brief break at the beginning of the month, but came back with authority last week as racing shifts to the four days per week schedule. Racing will continue at this point to the end of September on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday basis at 12:45 pm each day with a few exceptions along the way. In particular, fans should be aware of early post times coming up on Saturday, May 4 (Kentucky Derby Day) and Saturday, May 18 (Preakness Day). Racing on both of these days will begin at 11:30 am. Additional exceptions will come on Fridays starting on May 24 when the popular Friday night racing will return with 5:10 pm post times throughout the Summer months.
The return to racing last week also welcomed two new additions: a brand new video board and changes to the Lucky Pick 7 wager. Fans on track this week have likely noticed the brand new large video board that was installed over the week and a half break from racing. The old tote board, which has been around for six decades, will be slowly removed over the upcoming weeks. The other change fans will notice as racing ramps back up is changes to the Meadows Lucky 7. The race remains a Pick 7 wager that spans Races 3-9 daily, but will now be reduced to a 50-cent minimum wager. Additionally, there will now be a consolation payout (totaling 20% of the daily pool) if there are no winning tickets sold. The remaining money will be carried over to the next racing program.
Regarding this week’s racing, there are four different Memorial Series taking place at the Meadows for the three-year-olds. This week is the second leg of the series and next week will feature four different finals, one on each card of live racing during the week. This Thursday’s early daily double will feature both divisions of the second leg of the Margaret Provost Memorial for three-year-old filly trotters. In the first race, I’ll roll the dice with #1 INSIDER TRADING from the rail. She went 2-from-6 last year as a two-year-old and did show talent at times in some Pennsylvania Sire Stakes spots. The biggest issue has been staying flat, especially this year as she’s made breaks in both starts of the year so far. The rail could be a tricky draw for her in this one, but I’ll take the chance she can show her talent in this one while staying flat.
Race 2 has a clear standout to me in the form of #4 LEXI B. I liked her a lot in her second career start in another series final, but she unfortunately broke in that one before the start. However, she still made up tremendous ground after the break and finished fourth in the end. She got back on track with a win in this series last week and will look to keep it rolling today in leg two. Best of luck in your wagers this week at the Meadows and don’t forget to check out the series finals next week: the Ruby Cook Memorial (3 y/o filly pacers- Wednesday, April 24), the Margaret Provost Memorial (3 y/o filly trotters- Thursday, April 25), the Terry Altmeyer Memorial (3 y/o colt trotters- Friday, April 26), and the Tom Kirwan Memorial (3 y/o colt pacers- Saturday, April 27).
