COPPERFIELD MAKES FOES DISAPPEAR AT BIG M

Sunday, March 15, 2026

He hadn’t raced at The Meadowlands since November of 2023 in the Kindergarten final, but Copperfield had little trouble re-acclimating to the mile oval Saturday night, putting up a powerhouse performance in the featured $25,000 TrackMaster 90 on the pace.

Since going off stride and finishing 10^th in his last parimutuel try at The Big M, the 5-year-old gelded son of Betting Line-American Charm has qualified just twice at the East Rutherford track, but the most recent was a sparkling 1:51 win on March 7 that featured a final quarter of :25.2.

“He looked like he qualified really well,” said winning driver Brett Beckwith, who watched the dash on his phone. “I was pretty confident with mine going into the race, especially off that qualifier.”

And rightly so.

The early going featured the usual scrum for position as Wish You Well (post four), World Of Wishes (post five), Copperfield (post six) and Joemikiyoursofine (post 10) all used some early gas into the first turn in the 10-horse field.

World Of Wishes, who was so impressive winning his seasonal debut last week in a lifetime-best 1:49.2, had the lead at the quarter in :27.4, but soon thereafter, Copperfield, a Per Engblom trainee, forged to the front at the three-eighths before reaching the half in :55.2.

Rydingtothewire, a 40-1 outsider, was now motoring up on the rim to go after the leader, and was at Copperfield’s throat as three-quarters was timed in 1:23.4.

As the field straightened up with three-sixteenths to the finish, Rydingtothewire started to weaken, but not quite enough to allow 2-1 second choice World Of Wishes the space necessary to vacate the pocket and come after the leader. In deep stretch, Wish You Well ducked to the inside and outpaced World Of Wishes in the race for place as Copperfield recorded a convincing 1½-length score in 1:50.4.

“I followed Patrick (Ryder, driving World Of Wishes) to the lead and my horse outsprinted them,” said Beckwith. “He’s a really nice horse and is handy for a pretty big horse. He’s big, he’s strong, and he’s versatile. I imagine he’s even better off a helmet.”

Sent to the gate as the even-money favorite, Copperfield paid $4 after registering his 12^th career win in 61 tries. He now has earnings totaling $338,487 for owner W.J. Donovan.

PK 8 CARRIES ON: The $1 PK 8 went unhit for a ninth consecutive offering, upping the carryover to $94,833 for Friday night.

Winner’s odds for the sequence were 18-1, 4-1, 8-1, 4-1, 4-1, 7-2, 2-5 and 1-1. Those with six correct collected $1,497.30.

The $1 PK 8 is offered nightly on races three through 10. Free program pages for every race of every Meadowlands card are available by going to playmeadowlands.com.

A LITTLE MORE: Joe Bongiorno led the driver colony with three victories on the night. He finished the weekend with a half-dozen winner’s circle visits. … Bongiorno also led the trainers with a pair of walks down victory lane. … All-source handle on the 14-race program totaled $2,649,709. … Racing resumes Friday at 6 p.m.

PHOTO: Copperfield and driver Brett Beckwith won the Saturday night feature at The Meadowlands. (Credit: Lisa Photo)