Dec 8, 2025 6 min read

By John Sacco

Contributing writer

Her rise in the ranks of harness racing broadcasting has been meteoric.

Meadow Twaddle has shown early in her career she can certainly keep pace.

She recently became one of the revolving co-hosts of “Racing from The Meadowlands.”

Twaddle, 23, is a 2020 graduate of Canon-McMillan High School and 2024 graduate of Washington & Jefferson College.

She is currently the social media coordinator for the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Association. In addition, Twaddle writes for Standardbred Canada and does freelance work with The Meadows Standardbred Association. She also assists the Christian Harness Horsemen’s Association with its social media efforts.

Twaddle also co-hosts the podcast “Hot 2 Trot.”

David Little, the show’s main host and a highly -respected communicator and veteran handicapper, sent Twaddle an email about serving as a co-host on the show.

The main responsibility of the co-host on a show like “Racing from The Meadowlands” is to handicap the card and enlighten the betting public as to why they made the selections they did.

“I was surprised he reached out to me,” Twaddle said. “I was in shock. I called my dad and said, ‘You’ll never believe what I’ve been invited to do.’ It was a dream of mine to get there (Meadowlands). I didn’t think it would come so fast. I couldn’t believe I was getting this opportunity.”

Twaddle is one of three children of Tim and Sophia Twaddle. Tim Twaddle is a trainer based at The Meadows, and former driver who won the Jugette and Breeders Crown in the 1990s.

Sophia is a harness-racing lifer who helps in the Twaddle Stable and is a steadying force in the family, which includes daughter, Lexi, and son, Parker.

Meadow Twaddle is proud to be part of the industry and family business.

“It really took me some time to build my skills and get my voice in the industry,” she said. “When I got involved, l was like a sponge learning as many aspects of the industry as I can. I’m grateful for the experiences.”

Little said Meadow Twaddle’s willingness to learn and those experiences are invaluable.

“She exceeded my expectations,” Little said. “She was extremely articulate and she never came across as stiff on camera, which is really one of the keys – especially when you’re dealing with somebody who doesn’t have a lot of experience.

“I think Meadow has benefited in a big way from the podcast that she does and she is a very quick and willing learner. Anybody who knows me, when they learn from me how to do what they must do, criticism is going to come their way. She took it very well and was able to adjust based on those criticisms.

“I think that some people have certain skills that are just kind of part of their talent menu. She might not have been formally trained but she has an affinity for it. When you have an affinity for it and have the willingness to learn from people with more experience, it can be helpful. That willingness is maybe a better attribute than talent.”

Meadow Twaddle praised Little for providing insights and honest evaluation of her performances.

She also credited W&J for prepping her for professional pursuits beyond her degree in psychology and minor in Spanish.

“I cannot praise W&J enough,” she added. “It’s a great school,” she explained. “When I first started getting interest in marketing, I sat down with my professor and he helped me build my own program, keeping it psychology-based. I feel so well rounded in so many subjects. I feel prepared to take on these new roles.”

Milestones

Two milestones in harness racing were reached last week.

The first happened at Dover when driver Anthony Morgan recorded career win No. 18,000 with Inter Mischief for Jamie Sullivan in 1:54.4. A few hours later, at Northfield Park, Ohio, driver Aaron Merriman won his fourth race of the card, which was career win 17,000. The win was with Baby Yoda for Cory Kreiser in 1:58.2.

As of last week, the career Top 5 winning drivers in harness racing were: Dave Palone, 21,421; Morgan, 18,000; Merriman, 17,000; Herve Filion, 15,183; and David Miller, 14,818.

Tied together

A rarely noticed track record fell Nov. 19 at The Meadows in the top-level trot. Adamsville Road and Winslow hit the wire together in 1:52.2, the fastest dead heat ever at The Meadows on the trot.

Adamsville Road, driven by Dave Palone for trainer John Ryan Melsheimer, put his name into the local record books for the first time. For Winslow, trained by Dana Kahrig and driven by Merriman, it was the third time this year his name has been placed on the books. First, he tied the track record for 4-year-old trotting geldings, then took sole possession of it a week later with a 1:51.1 effort. The duo now shares the dead heat record, which was previously 1:53.2 on two different occasions by four different horses.

Down the stretch

Bythemissal, an Adios, Little Brown Jug and Breeders Crown champion, is currently “on vacation” in Lexington, Ky.

Mark Weaver, one of his owners, said recently, if Bythemissal is fit he would probably race as a 7-year-old in 2026 but at a reduced schedule.

“He’s Ohio bred so he’ll probably end up racing in Ohio or maybe The Meadows,” Weaver said. “It will be at a minimum and kind of just the open classes – not traveling around.

“We hope to continue to race him, but just not as much. We’re not (going to be) chasing all the big money. He’s been through a lot of wars and he doesn’t owe us anything.”

Terry Scott from North Carolina was hired and has been working along with his horse for about a month as the new outrider at The Meadows.

* Going into this week’s action, driver Justin Irvine had won 14 of 80 (17.5 percent) races at The Meadows. He also has a Universal Driver Rating System of .288. The Ohioan driver posted those numbers in about a month.

Meadows track announcer Jeff Zidek contributed to this story.