Meadowlands: Five-figure carryovers in Pick 6, Pick 8 on Saturday night

For a second straight program, no winning tickets were sold on the 20-cent Pick 8 or 20-cent Pick 6 on Friday night at the Meadowlands, making things very interesting for Saturday's card.

Both wagers will now have double carryovers for players to shoot for. The Pick 8, which returned $20.14 to those with five correct, will begin with $10,566 in the pool, while the Pick 6, which paid $2,154 for tickets with five winning selections, will have a hefty $37,839 in the hat.

SKOGLUND'S CHRISTMAS DREAM: RELOCATE TO THE BIG M: Rikard Skoglund's name isn't one that's familiar to Meadowlands' fans, but if the 34-year-old native of Sweden has his way, it will be in the not-too-distant future.

Skoglund, who has dreams of relocating to The Big M dancing in his head, guided Bonanza to an authoritative, first-over 1 1/4 length score Friday night, and in the process, Bonanza lifted his lifetime stats to seven wins from 10 lifetime starts for Skoglund's friend, trainer Per Engblom.

The 4-year-old Muscle Hill-Designed To Be horse stopped the clock in the low-end conditioned trot in 1:55 4/5 and returned $10.00 to win as the 4-1 second choice in the wagering.

"The racing is a little bit different in Sweden than here," said Skoglund. "The plan was to leave, [but after having to go first-over] I kept him going without pushing him."

Skoglund is a full-time driver in Sweden who has close to 1,500 career wins and has been in the top-10 in the standings there for the last five years. He’s hoping things fall into place for the 4,000-mile move to East Rutherford from Stockholm.

"I am here because I have been watching the races from the U.S. my entire life," said Skoglund. "I wanted to try coming here because I like the way you race here.

"I will be here for three weeks this time, and then go back home before Christmas. I have a baby boy and need to speak with my fiancé. If I make some progress, I'm going to try and move here. I would like to relocate, that's my dream. Per has told me that the market is big enough for me to not only drive his horses, but others as well."

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A LITTLE MORE: Marcus Miller's second of two winners on the night was Pull Me Through, who paid $106.20 to win in the 13th race, keying the giant late 50-cent Pick 4 return of $42,763. Joining Miller with two driving wins were Patrick Ryder, Yogi Sheridan, Brett Beckwith and Tyler Miller. All-source wagering on the 14-race card totaled $2,639,108. Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.

--edited press release (Meadowlands)--