Southwind Serenity and Donttelruss are 8/5 favored
entry Friday, February 13
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ
(February 11, 2015) – Last Friday’s
opening leg of the Burning Point Series at The Meadowlands was supposed to be a
showdown between Ron Burke’s dynamic duo and Tony Alagna’s red-hot Witch Dali.
Instead, 14/1 longshot Empress Deo passed all three of them in the stretch to
win in an upset.
Burke expects a bounce back
effort from both of his mares, Southwind Serenity and Donttellruss, in the
second leg of the Burning Point Series on Friday night (February 13). The entry
has been installed as the 8/5 favorite on Darin Zoccali’s morning line. The
twosome is part of a field of seven pacing mares that also includes Worldly
Beauty champion Witch Dali and first leg winner Empress Deo. The $65,000 final
is February 21.
In last week’s opening round,
Southwind Serenity led the field to the top of the stretch before fading to
finish fifth.
“She tied up last week,” said
Burke. “I’m not making any equipment changes and I’m confident she won’t have
those issues again this week.”
He’s also hoping for a change
in tactics on Friday night. Last week, Southwind Serenity was on the lead while
Donttellruss came first over.
“Hopefully with different
trips this week we will see better results,” said Burke.
Once again, Yannick Gingras
will drive Southwind Serenity and Corey Callahan will be partnered with
Donttellruss.
The Burning Point is race six
on a 13-race card. Melady’s Monet looks to win his third straight in a small,
but select field in the Open Trot and world champion Shebestingin continues her
comeback in race seven. The 50-cent Pick 5 with an average pool of more than
$50,000 begins with race 1. The Early Pick 4 begins in race 3. Its average pool
size has also been more than $50,000. The Late Pick 4 covers races 7-10 and
features an average pool size of more than $72,000.
