EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Boston bound (Boston Red Rocks) looked to be in an ambitious spot in Saturday night’s harness racing event at The Meadowlands, a $25,000 TrackMaster 90 at the pace, but after being claimed for $35,000 from his last outing, the Chris Height trainee proved up to the challenge of the bump in class, recording a blistering score of 1:50.1 on a damp, cold evening on a sloppy track at The Big M.
It would take a lifetime of effort to get the job done, and that’s exactly what Boston Red Rocks-Ashleeswayrhighway’s 6-year-old son brought to the dance.
Music Hall and Bondi Lockdown A pushed the gate away at the start as Boston Bound also opted to mix it up in the early battle. Music Hall led into the quarter with a spirited :26.3 before Boston Bound took the point between the three-eighths and the half, reaching the half-mile mark in :54.1 as Jettingtomalibu applied pressure as he raced alongside the leader on the edge.
The intimidation continued in and around the far turn as Boston Bound reached three-quarters in 1:23, but as the field straightened out at the top of the track, Boston Bound shrugged off Jettingtomalibu and pulled away to a 1¾ length victory in a thoroughly dazzling performance. American Dealer N came in second place, while Jettingtomalibu came in third.
BOSTON BOUND REPEAT
“He’s super nice, two fingers to control,” said winning pilot Mark Herschberger. “It took us a bit of time to open up, we were a bit stretched at half, but it was such a competitive effort to get someone on him so early and fight back. He’s such a good horse.
“The horse that came first made a good effort through the turn, and then we just put him away. I kicked the [ear] came out of the corner and gave him a good shout, and he responded very well.
Boston Bound recorded its fourth win in a row and 19e lifespan in 86 starts. The 5-2 second choice, owned by William Emmons, returned $7.40 to his supporters while increasing his lifetime earnings to $264,003.
POWERFUL PICK-5 POOL: A transfer of $29,637 motivated players to go deep and bet $173,075 of “new money” into the 20-cent Pick-5 pool, for a total of $202,712.
Because of the fruitful transfer, players with winning tickets received a 102 percent return, a rare but popular “negative windfall.”
After a series with odds of 4-1, 1-5, 5-2, 7-1 and 5-1, the winning tickets were redeemed for $877.76.
CORE TOP ‘CAPPER: Del Kern scored the 20-cent Pick-5 and that was the catalyst for the regular match in which Kern won the first of 11 monthly installments of the 2026 Meadowlands Monthly Handicapping Contest.
He finished the night with a bankroll of $934.01, taking home not only that money, but also the $500 first prize in the $1,000 competition. Stefan Ferrara’s final total of $840.76 was good for second place and $250 in prize money.
By finishing 1-2, Kern and Ferrara earned spots in the “finals” of the invitation-only year-end competition where only the 11 monthly top-two finishers are eligible to participate.
The next $1,000 qualifier is on Friday, February 20.
A LITTLE MORE: Colin Kelly, Austin Siegelman, Kyle Symington and Herschberger were all tied in the driver standings on the schedule, with a pair of winners each. … Rico Robinson led the trainers with two walks in victory lane. …All bets on the 14-race card totaled $2,627,845. … Racing resumes Sunday at 12:30 p.m., the first of four consecutive Sunday schedules to be contested at The Big M in 2026.
For full race results, click here: American trotting results
Through Dave Kleinfor The Meadowlands
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