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1 week ago | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
New Jersey Sire Stakes champ Smooth Dream goes for his seventh win in as many seasonal starts at The Big M. by Debbie LittleTraditionally, winning three in a row at The Meadowlands is difficult, so the fact that Smooth Dream could notch his seventh straight mile-oval score on Saturday night (June 21) would be quite the accomplishment. Maybe even more so when you consider that the 3-year-old gelded son of Cattlewash—Dreamlands Latte only had three starts as a 2-year-old with no wins.
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2 weeks ago | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
The trainer will contest Canada’s top harness race with Louprint and Swingtown. by Debbie LittleWith the Meadowlands Pace only a month away, trainer Ron Burke looks to be in a good spot to capture The Big M’s signature race for the very first time. “I’ve got good 3-year-olds this year; my 3-year-old colt pacers are solid,” he said.
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4 weeks ago | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
View The 2025 Videos HereRaces for top sophomore colt pacers have been elusive at The Meadowlands. by Debbie LittleWith the Pepsi North America Cup on June 14 and the Meadowlands Pace a month later, trainers of top 3-year-old male pacers want to get a few tighteners into their horses before the rubber meets the road, but that’s been hard to do at The Meadowlands, although not for a lack of trying.
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1 month ago | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
View The 2025 Videos HereFrom Malabar Man in 1997 through Pinkman in 2015, the three-time Hall of Famer reflects on triumphs in “the toughest race to win.”by Debbie Little“The Hambletonian is the toughest race to win,” said Hall of Famer Jimmy Takter. The talented trainer knows of what he speaks, having won “America’s Trotting Classic” four times, as a favorite, second choice, fourth choice, and even from the driver’s seat.
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1 month ago | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
View The 2025 Videos HereMike Lachance on his successful partnership with trainer Ron Gurfein. by Debbie LittleAccording to Hall of Fame driver Mike Lachance, when it comes to his four Hambletonian victories, some things were just meant to be. Lachance’s quartet of wins started in 1994 with Victory Dream for trainer Ron Gurfein and ended with Amigo Hall in 2003 for trainer Blair Burgess. “Three of those Hambletonians were with me and Ronnie Gurfein,” Lachance said.
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1 month ago | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
View The 2025 Videos HereIs the reduction in drag the reason for the decline? It’s probably not helping, but it’s more complicated than that. by Debbie LittleAnyone who regularly follows The Meadowlands knows that their handle has been lower than usual for the last three weeks of April. In preparation for tonight’s (May 2) planned suspension of the post-time drag, The Big M started decreasing their normal eight-minute drag by one minute each race night since April 11.
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2 months ago | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
View The 2025 Videos Hereby Debbie LittleSince the calendar flipped from March to April, the number of weekly qualifiers at The Meadowlands has more than doubled, going from an average of 6.6 to 13.5.The prospect of being at The Big M on a Saturday morning at 9 a.m. — less than 10 hours after live racing wrapped up on Friday night — may not be appealing to everyone, but professional punter Les Stark, and commanding general of the #SendItIn army, Gabe Prewitt, think it’s must-see TV.
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2 months ago | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
View The 2025 Videos HereA response to criticism of a recent amateur race at The Meadowlands. by Debbie LittleThere has been some discussion about an amateur race that took place at The Meadowlands a couple of weeks ago, and since this column does, indeed, deal with matters that happen at The Meadowlands, it seemed only logical to take a look.
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2 months ago | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
View The 2025 Videos Hereby Debbie LittleWhen The Meadowlands sent out a release last week adding the name of the late, great Stan Bergstein to the finals of the Graduate Series, the two comments most shared were, “great idea” and “long overdue.”“I was really pleased to see that the Graduate finals are going to honor Stan,” said Paul Estok. “My personal feeling is that it’s about time.
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Mar 28, 2025 | 
harnessracingupdate.com | Debbie Little
View The 2025 Videos HereThe passionate harness racing participant has been the Yankees’ assistant equipment manager for more than three decades. by Debbie LittleJoe Lee, 45, grew up in New York’s Throggs Neck section of The Bronx and then in Yonkers, loving horses, but it took the New York Yankees to make him a driver. “We were always at the track as a family,” Lee said. “My parents had owned standardbreds when I was a little kid… My mom [Gail] had a groom’s license as well as my dad [Dennis].
