by Ellen Harvey
East
Rutherford, NJ ---
“Parting,” Shakespeare said, “is such sweet sorrow.”
And
so it was a sweet and sorrowful winner's circle, filled with tears and hugs for
the connections of Sweet Lou, as he won the final race of his career, the
$500,000 TVG final for open pacers on Saturday night (Nov. 29) at the
Meadowlands, in 1:48 by 3-3/4 lengths.
The
race unfolded with Bettor’s Edge (Matt Kakaley) going to the lead first at the
:26.2 quarter-mile mark, with Sweet Lou and driver Ron Pierce tucked in third.
No sooner had the field straightened down the backstretch than Pierce had Sweet
Lou on the move, rushing up to take the lead by the three-eighths and holding
it to the :54 half with Bettor’s Edge tucked in behind.
Sweet
Lou led the field to the 1:21.3 three-quarters and on to the long homestretch.
Only 10-year-old Foiled Again parted ways with the pack to muster a challenge
for Sweet Lou, but at the wire, it was Sweet Lou first and alone for the last
time. Foiled Again (Yannick Gingras) was second and Clear Vision (Tim Tetrick)
third.
The
stallion with the distinctive white blaze was soon mobbed by a crowd that
included his owners, Phil Collura, Larry Karr, Weaver Bruscemi and Burke
Racing. Ron Burke trains the 5-year-old son of Yankee Cruiser-Sweet Future, who is set to
stand stud at Diamond Creek Farm in 2015.
“I
don’t know if Ronnie’s (Burke) listening,” said driver Ron Pierce, “but if he
is, he was better tonight than he’s been all year. Maybe they’d consider racing
him next year. I was looking for Foiled Again, he’s always a tough horse.
“He’s
such a pleasure to race; such a classy animal. These kinds of horses don’t come
along all the time. I’m going to really miss him next year.”
“It
was a very hard decision,” said co-owner Larry Karr on retiring Sweet Lou. “At
the Burke operation we like to race, but this was the best opportunity for him
to be a stallion.”
The
win was the 11th in 19 season's starts for Sweet Lou and took his 2014 earnings
to $1,361,433. He has banked $3,478,894 lifetime on the strength of 33
victories in 74 starts.
Intimidate fanned five wide down the stretch to trot by the field to win the
$500,000 TVG final for open trotters on Saturday night (Nov. 29) at the
Meadowlands by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:51.2. He was driven by Scott Zeron for
trainer Luc Blais and owners Determination and Judith Farrow.
There
were no surprises as the race left the starting gate, with Ake Svanstedt
guiding Sebastian K to the lead by the :26.1 first quarter and Maven (Yannick
Gingras) right behind him.
Creatine
(Ron Pierce) trotted up with a rush to get alongside Sebastian K, where he
remained through the :54.1 half and on to the 1:23 three-quarters.
As
the field turned for home, Market Share and driver Tim Tetrick went three wide
to press hard on those two leaders and appeared poised to go by before
Intimidate emerged five wide to trot by the field for the win. Market Share was
second and Creatine third.
It
was just the fifth win of the year for Intimidate in 14 starts and enough to
put him over $1 million lifetime, with career earnings now of $1,224,008. He is
a 5-year-old gelding by Justice Hall out of Fabulous Tag.
“This
field was just stacked with the best trotters in North America,” said winning
driver Scott Zeron. “The pace was hot up front and it all worked out for the
off the pace (horse).
“I
found out today when I spoke with Luc that he (Intimidate) tied up (in the
Breeders Crown one week ago). So he wasn’t himself, because when he’s on his
game, he comes home in :26 every week.
“To
finish it off like this, it’s been a great year. It feels great. I want to say
hi to everybody back home in Quebec because this horse represents Canada and
Quebec.”
Racing
at The Meadowlands resumes on Friday with first post time at 7:15 P.M.
