Sunday night racing in February and March at the Meadowlands at 5:00pm in 2025!

[Grandstand Handicapper]

And now there's a new post time at Woodbine/Mohawk!!! Something else for people to complain about! LOL.

As far as the Meadowlands schedule, personally, I would rather see the Big M close after/around Hambo day. Then, let the t-bred people contribute to converting the track for t-breds. Run a regular t-bred meet for September, October, maybe even into November. You will eventually lose the turf course, so then it would be dirt only (but keep the turf going as long possible). Then convert the track back to harness and let the Big M open just before or just after year-end. I think this will provide numerous benefits all around.

[Papillon]

I remember the same thing, Kantsee. Cheap trots and low level conditioned pacers.

They often had Open/Invitational trots on those Sundays... most of the card was lower conditions

I would go Garden St and bet them on the simulcast

[Sunmoon 1219]

This is great for all those freehold people who are desperate to race somewhere. Batavia is buying a few .

[gh2009]

I'm sure Gural will end up getting Freehold's purse subsidy to fund these races.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

I would like to get an update from the SBOANJ and find out the status of the Freehold allocation. I heard Gural was going to meet with the Freehold horsemen to try and offer them some program where they could race for their portion of the money. I have no idea how they would do that, but it certainly could be feasible.

[gh2009]

As much as Gural whines that he's losing money racing, you can almost bet they added those racing dates knowing they're getting Freehold's purse subsidy.

[JL52]

Sunday night cards at Meadowlands will be for cheap Freehold type horses, and alot of Meadowlands regular drivers will take the night off.

Brandywine Raceway used to also race on Sunday night's with great success. Sometimes they'd have a big-time driver come and drive in all the races. Their publicity guy was Colonel Dave Herman, who used to dress in loud flashy outfits and did a great job promoting the track.

I remember at the end of some years, Eddie Davis and Herve would battle at whichever Delaware Valley track was open, for the national dash winning title.
Also, Green Mountain used to import Herve occasionally on Sundays- he did have a small string there anyway under the care of Gil Hamel. Joe Marsh Jr would occasionally come up. With a minimum purse of $ 600, I would expect these guys were compensated by the track. Five percent of  a $ 300 win check, didn’t go very far.

[gh2009]

It's like when Georgetown Raceway ran and the purses were all $500 regardless of the class. The winning driver's share was $12.50. If you finished 5th, the driver got $1.25.

[Papillon]

I remember at the end of some years, Eddie Davis and Herve would battle at whichever Delaware Valley track was open, for the national dash winning title.
Also, Green Mountain used to import Herve occasionally on Sundays- he did have a small string there anyway under the care of Gil Hamel. Joe Marsh Jr would occasionally come up. With a minimum purse of $ 600, I would expect these guys were compensated by the track. Five percent of  a $ 300 win check, didn’t go very far.

Brandywine was a warm weather track--Liberty Bell raced in the winter

Herve raced at freehold during the day and either RR or YR at night

he never drove full time at Brandywine or Liberty Bell--only Grand Circuit or Sunday nights

it was usually Davis and Ross Hayter battling for driving titles in the DelVal

[gh2009]

I lived 1 mile from Brandywine and was there every night and Herve raced full time for a few years. He didn't move to New York fulltime until the early 70's. Back in those days Brandywine ran from mid-May to Labor Day which almost mirrored when Freehold would be closed. Herve didn't have alot of Grand Circuit horses, his best was Nansemond who beat Albatross in the Little Brown Jug.

[seen2much]

Sunday could be interesting...if it isn't trash Thursday cards.

[Papillon]

I lived 1 mile from Brandywine and was there every night and Herve raced full time for a few years. He didn't move to New York fulltime until the early 70's. Back in those days Brandywine ran from mid-May to Labor Day which almost mirrored when Freehold would be closed. Herve didn't have alot of Grand Circuit horses, his best was Nansemond who beat Albatross in the Little Brown Jug.

thanks for the correction

I started going to Brandywine/Liberty Bell in the late 70s and of course was unaware Herve did that

this must have been in the late 60s

[gh2009]

I started going to Brandywine when I was 14 or 15 in the late 60's and Herve was driving there at the time, mostly cheap claimers. A few years later I went to Liberty Bell, but you had to be 21 to get in, so we snuck in by jumping the fence.

[Papillon]

Sunday nights were a very big deal in the Del Val area late 70s early 80s-the best card of the week

those summer Sundays at Brandywine were memorable

attended a handful of "Battle of Brandywine" finals-some on Sundays

Niatross may have raced on a Sat in 1980 for his Battle

saw Icarus Lobell defeat No Nukes by a nose--Garnsey was cocky went first up-giving perfect cover to Herve and Icarus--one of Herve's greatest drives because No Nukes was always a few lengths better

one of biggest scores as a teen was Vankirk (Steve Warrington)winning his Battle on a Sunday night

those were the days

[gh2009]

The Battle of Brandywine was only a $25,000 purse but they got the best 3-year-olds, later on they raised it to $37,500. Even when they had their FFA Pace or Trot, the purse was only $25,000, but the best horses showed up because it was a big purse in those days.