It has been a decade since the winter late closer program was last seen at the Meadowlands. The age of the Super Bowl, White Ruffles, Clyde Hirt and other Meadowlands mainstays of the winter months came to an end following the 2015 racing season. Peeling back the curtain, there were a few reasons for that change, as I was the Director of Racing Operations at that time. First and foremost, participation in those events was on the decline. Just a few years prior, a series like the Super Bowl would see five divisions contested each week, narrowing the field down to a lucky 10 horses who made the final. The legs would each carry a $12,500 purse, and the final would get some added money that typically resulted in a purse between $50,000 and $70,000. Slot-enhanced purses became the primary issue for the Meadowlands. Racetracks like Yonkers, Pocono Downs and Harrah's Philadelphia were offering the same condition as the Super Bowl Series (amongst others) as overnight races for substantially more purse money. The results were often short-priced favorites dominating the winter series action and the number of horses competing was greatly reduced. Lastly, the Meadowlands wanted to host the Breeders Crown in the fall of 2015, and part of the plan to fund the $900,000 fee for the event was to eliminate the late closer program, thus saving the added money used for the finals of all those winter series. I am not about to go through all the late closer events from that final year and see how many of those horses are still competing, but one horse that we know is still on the racetrack is the seemingly immortal JL Cruze. The night of the Super Bowl final, JL Cruze had a strong field to contend with that included the talented Opulent Yankee and the future star Propulsion. The competition did not matter that night, as JL Cruze rolled to a 1:54 4/5 victory with John Campbell in the sulky. JL Cruze was purchased at the Harrisburg Mixed Sale in the fall of 2014 for $37,000. He has been racing for the same ownership of Ken Wood, Bill Dittmar Jr. and Stephen Iaquinta for more than the last decade while racing out of trainer Eric Ell's barn for that same amount of time. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter That 2015 campaign, which began with a win in the Super Bowl Series, also included victories in the Charles Singer Memorial final and the Shiaway St. Pat Series en route to JL Cruze capturing seven straight races. He was a true rags to riches story as the bargain purchase would yield a $627,000 return in 2015, a season that saw JL Cruze triumph in 16 of 21 races, including a then world record 1:49 4/5 performance in the Graduate final. He also earned victories over horses like Father Patrick and Sebastian K en route to a victory in the Hambletonian Maturity that year. In 2017, JL Cruze pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year in harness racing, winning the Spirit of Massachusetts Trot at Plainridge Park over the brilliant trotting mare Hannelore Hanover, Resolve, Crazy Wow and others. He has won a race every year dating back to when he was a 2-year-old in 2013. The son of Crazed also has earned $100,000 in a season a spectacular nine times, and from our research that appears to be a trotting record co-held with Melady's Monet. A number of pacers have gotten to nine as well, including the great Foiled Again and Dancin Yankee. JL Cruze has competed in over 250 races, winning 75 times and sporting lifetime earnings of more than $2 million. Incredibly, JL Cruze continues to compete at a high level despite being a 14-year-old, which means this is his final season on the track. Last week, he finished a strong third in the Maryland Preferred Open Handicap at Rosecroft, and he competed in that event again this week on Wednesday with a second-place finish as the lukewarm 6-5 favorite behind College Tuition, a horse half his age. Horses who won the winter series at the Meadowlands sometimes turned into top caliber horses, but JL Cruze gave that a whole new meaning back in 2015. It is fitting that the legacy of the Super Bowl Series and really the entire winter late closer program lives on through JL Cruze, who is still not just racing but winning a decade after he captured those trotting series events at The Big M. Given that the Meadowlands is where the remarkable part of JL Cruze's story began, I think it would be only fitting that his career should conclude at the racetrack where he won 12 times in that tremendous 2015 campaign, including the fastest trotting mile in Meadowlands history up to that point. The Meadowlands calendar includes races through the final weekend of the year on December 26 and 27, and it is that period where I believe JL Cruze should take his final steps on a racetrack in competition. Whether it be an Open event for horses of a certain age, maybe 10 years old and up, or another condition, the Farewell JL Cruze Trot at the Meadowlands has a nice ring to it. It will be fun to watch JL Cruze compete the rest of 2025, and we wish both JL Cruze and his connections nothing but the best in his final year on the racetrack.