MEET STATS: 13-4-3-1 / $21.80 (-$4.20) BEST BETS: 1-1-0-0 / $2.40 (+.40) BEST BET: IM A GIGOLO N (13th) SPOT PLAY: HALLIAMA (8th) Race 1: Non-winners $2,500 in last 5/TM Rating 73 or less/Opt. $10K Clm. - Pick 5 (6) SAINT ALBRAY makes her debut for new connections tonight at the basement level off a decent qualifier. Five-year-old has shown the ability to go a big mile here in the past and perhaps will awaken. (2) DIXIE STAR N was used as the favorite in this class last time and tired. She's better than that effort. (1) MANHATTAN PLAY closed ok, which is kind of her signature move. In her second start off the bench, perhaps we'll see some early speed. [DRF HARNESS: Get Harness Eye PPs for this card] Race 2: Non-winners 2 races or $20,000 life (5) DA BOOGIE MAN left strong and trotted steadily through the wire last time. Now in his second start after missing two months I expect an even better mile. (7) STONEBRIDGE SYDNEY grinded first-over last time and wasn't bad. Maybe Yannick gets more out of her. (2) R HERBIE BLUE CHIP was disappointing and never looked particularly good in the loss last week. He remains a contender and Callahan elected to take him over my top pick, so there's that. [DRF BETS: Wager on tonight's Meadowlands card at DRF Bets.com!] Race 3: Trackmaster Rating 74 or less/Opt. $10K Clm. - Survivor 7 (3) SO SO DE VIE hooked up with Beltrami a few starts back in the amateur ranks and picked up a win. There doesn't seem to be a ton of early speed in here, with a few sketchy foes on the outside of the gate, and this guy along with (1) MCNULTY Z TAM should be prime players. The latter should be firing away and get a big piece of this, though he came up short in his last two amateur performances. (2) WHATSTROUBLNUROCKY moves into a new barn and owns the fastest win time over the track from last year. (4) HAYMITCH gets sent out for a live barn with a proven-in-2020 competent amateur. Race 4: Non-winners 3 races or $30,000 life (3) LOOK IN MY EYES has finished second behind some potentially stakes-caliber foes in recent weeks. This spot is clearly easier but no slam dunk. (1) SCIROCCO PATRICK lacks early speed but remains dangerous if Callahan can keep him in striking range. (6) BEYOND ORDINARY has early speed and decent form but usually gets minor pieces. Race 5: Winners 0-2 races life (2) TURNTHEFROWNAROUND debuts for new trainer Ron Burke and also gets a driver change here to Gingras. I'd like to see her on the track before I wager, but none of these seem scary on paper. (8) JOE'S SIGN has good early speed and form. Can she carry her speed through the wire? (4) SO IRRESISTIBLE got a nice tightener in the qualifier and seems fast enough with a decent trip. (9) THE DOUBLE DEUCE beat a bunch of these last week but wasn't helped by the bad draw. Race 6: Non-winners $7,500 in last 5/Opt. $20K Clm. - $50K GTD Pick 4 (1) SUPER SCHISSEL stays in the same class but catches a much softer group this week. He isn't the fastest away from the gate but should be put in play earlier this week, especially considering he's in the sale on Monday. (7) CARRICK wasn't bad in the first start off the claim from a tough post. Do we see early zip this week? (5) MANNY L has proven capable in this class when feeling good. (10) FINGALS WAVE could be put in play by Yannick and get into the exotics. Race 7: Non-winners $7,500 in last 5 (4) ROYALTYWESTHO came uncovered and held ok while passed by a few late in her last start. I'll try again with Gingras taking the drive. (8) MILADY DENVER A has proven capable in this class and was hopefully trapped behind a wall of horses most recently. (6) TANGO DANCER N drops down and certainly could blow this field away if on her game. Race 8: Non-winners $4,500 in last 5/Opt. $15K Clm. - Pick 6 (9) HALLIAMA drops in class but would appear to be in trouble as a horse that doesn't show much early speed. If you look deeper into his lines, he has left before and I expect he will tonight. (1) MUSHANA steps down the condition ladder again this week and certainly looks playable as a wake-up candidate. (5) RESITA and (7) LEVITATION both took the dip to this level last week and finished second after being placed on the engine. Either could win if the top two don't bring a top effort. [DRF BETS: Wager on tonight's Meadowlands card at DRF Bets.com!] Race 9: Non-winners $15,000 in last 5 or 8 races life (10) DBLDELITEBRIGADE N gunned to the front and had enough left in the lane to pick up her first U.S. victory. In a field lacking a ton of early speed, she may be able to fire out and overcome post 10. (5) GOLD ORCHID N qualified back sharply. If ready, she's more than capable of besting this field. (9) IVANA FLYBYE N is another Canadian defector with racing sidelined north of the border. She seems like a great fit but could be hurt by the outside draw; mixed feelings. (1) WAYSIDE is in the Monday sale and Burke won with a sale horse last weekend. Race 10: Non-winners $11,500 in last 5 - $50K GTD Pick 4 I'm going to go against the grain here with (2) ARABELLA'S CADET. She raced as well as any from the quiet-in-2021 Bongiorno barn last weekend while dropping nearly seven seconds from her qualifier. She should be tighter now and is capable of going with heavy chalk (6) WINNERUP on her best. Winnerup blazed to a career-best mile on the barn change to Burke. He faces tougher but that shouldn't matter if he can produce a similar effort. (5) ALL AMERICAN N and (1) SMART AS HILL are both moving down the class ladder and the former is also in the sale. Race 11: Non-winners $4,500 in last 5/TM Rating 78 or less (5) SANDY WIN gets an interesting trainer change here and even more surprising is that it comes a few days before this guy is supposed to sell. He's certainly more than capable of taking on this field. If the price is decent, I'll take a shot. (3) KAITLYN N was a winner, albeit in a slow time, the last time Gingras drove in this class. (4) QUITE A SIGHT gets class relief and could be headed to the front. (10) POSTMODERNISM closed well upon arrival. If he gets help, overcoming post 10 is not impossible. Race 12: Non-winners $2,500 in last 5/TM Rating 75.5 or less/Opt. $10K Clm. Driver Tyler Buter took off his earlier drive on the card but will make the trip over from Yonkers after driving a bunch there to steer (6) ITSONLYMONEYHONEY. Four-year-old showed good progress at the end of 2020 and looks like a contender in this salty NW2500. (3) MAGICAL WINNER K drops to the basement condition and actually raced well versus better last time. He gets the hottest driver at the track but goes out for a barn that has started cold. (2) BROADWAY PROMISE is clearly off form but could be winging on the engine with his claiming price dropping from $15K to $10K. (7) TRIXIE DUST has a good closing kick and typically gets a piece at this level. Race 13: Non-winners 2/3 races or $20,000/$30,000 life (2) IM A GIGOLO N has posted two solid effort since coming to America and seems to be in the perfect spot to shine tonight. (8) HESTHERIGHTSTUFF impressed me with a powerful stretch rally to dead-heat for the win in his recent qualifier. The only issue tonight is he may need to pass the entire field to win. (4) QUAGMIRE BLUECHIP takes a substantial drop from NW4 to NW2/3 and shouldn't be ignored. (1) SHOW STOP has been qualifying reasonably well and figures to leave it all on the track ahead of the sale. Race 14: $7,500 Claiming When a horse only has five starts the previous year and drops in claiming price after a win, you have to think the connections are looking to get all they can out of the horse before something goes wrong again. (8) HALUSKY sheds $2,500 off his claiming tag and should be live. (5) BILLION DOLLAR DAY raced well when last here and should be forwardly placed. (3) GENESSEE SEELSTER has raced well at this level. He's an exotics must and a possible win player. (2) K-LEES SHAKENBAKE makes his first start in two years off a lackluster qualifier while triple-dropping in claiming price. He's mainly worth mentioning because if right he'll win by a huge margin.