Meadowlands: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to be honored Saturday

Saturday (Jan. 17) night’s fourth race at The Meadowlands is, by racetrack standards, ordinary. But the man the race honors was anything but.

The TrackMaster 74.5 pace is the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance Race, named for the slain civil rights leader. It is a dash that features all African-American drivers.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born January 15, 1929, and died April 4, 1968. He was a Baptist minister and social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination.

His leadership was fundamental to that movement’s success in ending the legal segregation of African-Americans in the South and other parts of the United States. King rose to national prominence as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which promoted non-violent tactics, such as the massive March on Washington (in 1963) to achieve civil rights.

Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Despite the fact that Dr. King was killed almost 40 years, his legacy lives on, even with young African-Americans.

William Carter is a driver who has distinguished himself on the Maryland circuit. He won 170 races during 2023 and added another 181 victories a year ago. Pretty good for someone who won’t turn 22 until this summer.

He’s a harness racing lifer, who won the MLK Pace at The Big M at age 18.

And he is well aware of the history associated with Dr. King.

“He’s had a lot of significance [on my life],” said Carter. “He wanted everyone to be equal. [With regard to race relations in this country] It’s getting better. We try to treat everyone the way we want to be treated.”

His father, Billy, got William interested in the game at a very early age. “I always wanted to be a driver from Day One,” said William.

William will go for his second MLK win with Warrawee Exceed, who has been performing steadily of late at Harrah’s Philadelphia.

The young pilot is optimistic that more African-American drivers will be seen in the sulky down the road. “There are a lot of black drivers in Mississippi that are coming up and they have as much talent as anybody else,” said William. “What it takes is opportunity. There are also several drivers that are doing well in Kentucky.”

There’s little doubt, though, that whoever lines up alongside him Saturday, William will be trying his best to win another MLK Pace. “There was so much going through my mind [in deep stretch with Maddox Hanover],” said William. “It was my first drive at The Meadowlands. That was a great feeling.”

KERN TOP ‘CAPPER: Del Kern hit the 20-cent Pick-5 and that was the catalyst in him taking the first of 11 monthly installments of the 2026 Meadowlands Monthly Handicapping Contest on Saturday (Jan. 10) night.

He finished the evening with a bankroll of $934.01 to not only take that money home, but also the $500 first prize in the $1,000 competition. Stefan Ferrara’s final tally of $840.76 was good for second and $250 in prize money.

By finishing 1-2, Kern and Ferrara earned spots in the end-of-the-year, $10,000 invitation-only contest “final”, where only the 11 monthly top-two finishers will be eligible to participate.

The next $1,000 “qualifier” is on Friday, Feb. 20.

THE SCHEDULE: During the month of January, live racing will be conducted on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday basis.

Post time on Friday and Saturday is 6:20 p.m. while Sunday racing will begin at 12:30 p.m.

The final Sunday race card takes place on Feb. 1.

-edited release (By Dave Little for Meadowlands)