The Meadowlands has come up with a unique twist on how it will draw for stakes finals, a system aimed to please both owners and bettors.

by Debbie Little

The origin of the phrase “the luck of the draw” dates back to the 19^th century, and, presumably, has been linked with horse racing since its inception.

However, these days, at least when it comes to elimination racing, in most cases it’s more about the luck of the draw formula.

From country to country, track to track, and even race to race, different conditions dictate how said final draw will be done.

Is one method better than the rest? It depends on who you ask.

Hall of Famer Ron Burke has always been clear about where he stands on the matter when it comes to eliminations.

“If you win, you pick your post,” Burke told HRU prior to the Hambletonian final in 2023. “It’s what the Adios does. [By winning the elimination] you earned the right to pick your post. To me, pick your post is the best. To me, pick your post or open draw, either way. I don’t subscribe to the go around there for the eliminations and just make the final thing; we try to win. People bet on the races. Our job is to go out and try to win every time. So, I don’t need that to try to win. I’m going to try to win anyhow. And plus, a $100,000 purse [for the eliminations] is enough reason to win.”

Over time, the Hambletonian Society has modified the draw formula for elimination winners of America’s Trotting Classic, from open draw, to picking their post, to the current conditions where they draw for posts 1 through 5.

The draw method used for tomorrow night’s (Sept. 21) finals at Woodbine Mohawk Park are similar to the Hambletonian, except that the elimination winners in Campbellville, ON, drew for posts 2 through 6.

Despite the fact that the Hambletonian is currently raced at The Meadowlands, they follow their own conditions and not those of their host track, which takes a slightly different approach.

Although only adopted at The Meadowlands since the 2022 season, the current draw formula was created nearly two decades ago by newly-minted Hall of Famer Bob Boni.

Boni, who grew up going to the races, said he wasn’t a fan of the method currently used in Delaware, OH, for the Little Brown Jug, where, depending on the number of elims, the winners drew for posts 1, 2 or even 3, and the second-place finishers drew for the next inside posts, etc.

“It sets up a terrible betting race, especially on a half-mile track,” Boni said. “There are a couple of factions that I felt needed to be taken care of in our business, and the factions are the horsemen and the gamblers. I think we have certain people that seem to disregard one or the other and that’s when they get in trouble.”

Boni was also not a fan of an open draw, one of which inspired him to come up with his formula.

“I remember the race that sort of really pushed me to say we got to do something about this and I’ll tell you which race it was,” Boni said. “It was Malabar Man and it stuck in my mind when he won the Hambletonian.”

In 1997, Bowlin For Dollars won the first Hambletonian elimination, while Malabar Man won the second and Yankee Glide the third. For the final, Yankee Glide drew post 3, Malabar Man got post 4 and Bowlin For Dollars ended up with post 9. Malabar Man won the race, while Bowlin For Dollars, after having to go three-wide early in the race, finished fourth while Yankee Glide broke and finished last.

Boni remembers thinking at the time, “There’s an imbalance there.”

So, over time, he came up with a formula that would both reward horses that finished well as well as make for a good betting race.

“The overall concept is to give a balance between the ownership and the betting public so that you’re not beating up the ownership, who without that group, we have no racing, and if the betting public doesn’t think it’s a bettable product, you know, we’re kidding ourselves there also,” Boni said. “So, I thought about it a lot and then came up with an idea that gave you a reason to win, but also just as important, it gave you a reason to finish second and not third. Because when it used to be that the winners draw inside, at the top of the stretch if you’re going to be second, third or fourth it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference because you’re in the open draw. On a mile track, [with this formula] you can’t draw outside of the 7, and to me there’s a big difference drawing the 7 or the 8, 9 or 10.”

Using two eliminations as the example, as explained on The Meadowlands website, winners would draw for posts 1 to 6, the second-place finishers would draw for post 7 and down, eliminating positions selected by the winners, the third-place finishers would draw for post 8 and down, eliminating positions already selected, the fourth-place finishers would draw for post 9 and down, eliminating positions already selected, and the fifth-place finishers would draw for the remaining positions, one of which would be post 10. It is in play for any stake that is Meadowlands administered and requires eliminations: the Meadowlands Pace, NJ Classic and Fall Final Four.

As the simulcast and sponsorship director and second announcer in Delaware, OH, Jason Settlemoir deals with a very different draw system that according to the conditions on the USTA website “Post positions for final heat to be determined by order of finish of first heat with the winner of the second heat being the winner of the Little Brown Jug.”

According to Settlemoir, who is also the chief operating officer/general manager at The Meadowlands, they are always looking to do what’s best for their customers and horsemen, and for now, this draw formula is fitting the bill.

“We’re okay with it at this point and if we need to make changes, we’ll always make changes,” Settlemoir said. “So, if anybody has a better idea, then please send it along because our goal always is to protect the customer and have integrity driven races and to make sure that our customer is getting a fair shake every time that these horses are on the racetrack, regardless of whether it’s an overnight, elimination or a million-dollar race.”

The Breeders Crown will be held at The Meadowlands this year but, just like the Hambletonian, it has its own guidelines and thus its own draw system which is that the elimination winners draw for post 1 through 5.

In perhaps an ironic twist, Boni’s formula may have helped shape what is done by the Hambletonian Society.

When Boni came up with the formula, he showed it to Hambletonian Society director John Cashman, and while Boni’s work was not credited with the change, according to Boni, Cashman later told him it was the initiative for the Hambletonian introducing the policy of winners drawing from 5 and down.

Writer’s note: As longtime newspaper writers, my husband Dave and I were often told ‘I wasn’t going to leave it all out there, when we’re going for a million next week.’ Quotes like that from drivers that were favored in a race made me hate elimination races. Back then, my husband once wrote that elimination racing should be non-betting but then nobody would watch. So, I applaud any track or entity trying to make elimination racing better for the fans and the owners.