Meadowlands: NJ Classic finals to appear on Fox Sports

The New Jersey Classic finals for 2- and 3-year-olds of each sex and gait will be featured Friday (Sept. 5) night at The Meadowlands with eight championship events going for purses totaling $1.6 million, and, once again, FOX Sports will broadcast the action live nationwide.

The show begins at 8 p.m. and can be seen on FOX Sports 2 (FS2). There will be three hours of coverage. Gabe Prewitt and Jessica Otten will be at The Big M with analysis and interviews while Chris Griffin and Paul Verderosa will be in-studio anchoring the festivities.

“This is the first show we’ve had since FOX televised the 100th Hambletonian live coast-to-coast,” said Big M Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Jason Settlemoir. “And it’s great once again to be partnering up with the TV crew at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) as part of their ‘America’s Day at the Races’ series to show some of our best stakes events to such a big audience. This is the fifth year that we’ve had a presence on FOX and we hope that continues for the foreseeable future.”

Some of the star performers who will be seen on the card include:

• Race 5: New Jersey Sire Stakes champion Emmas Mystery CCL taking on Peaceful Way winner Sugar Packet in the 2-year-old filly trot

• Race 8: Muscle Hill winner Onajetplane in the 3-year-old colt and gelding trot

• Race 9: Captain Optimistic and Manolete face-off again after the latter won last week’s matchup in the New Jersey Classic 3-year-old colt and gelding pace prep

• Race 10: Two-year-old colt and gelding trotters square off again in Round 3 of their rivalry as Apex looks to go up three wins to none over Diabolic Hill

• Race 11: Yo Tillie, the top 3-year-old trotting filly in training, looks to stay perfect in eight seasonal starts. She’s currently No. 3 in the weekly Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll

Here is the schedule for the remaining FOX Sports shows, with the event(s) that will be featured and the time the show will be broadcast. Which FOX network the show can be found on – FS1 or FS2 – will be determined:

• September 5 – New Jersey Classic Series finals, 8-11 p.m., FS2

• November 1 – Kindergarten finals, 8-11 p.m., TBA

• November 15 – Fall Final Four, 8-11 p.m., TBA

-edited release (Meadowlands)