Sweet Lou returned to The Meadowlands in style in the first round of the TVG
Free For All Championship series with a dominant and compelling performance on
May 10th, sailing around the East Rutherford oval in 1:48.3. Among those
left in his wake was his stable-mate and the richest pacer in history, Foiled
Again.
“(Sweet Lou) was super last week. That mile was as good as I have seen
him since he was two,” was the reaction from trainer Ron Burke. “We tried
him at Yonkers, but it didn’t seem to suit him, but all his efforts on the
bigger tracks this year have been excellent.” He will be driven by Ron
Pierce once again.
Sweet Lou (post 10) leads a three-pronged Ron Burke attack in the second
$50,000 TVG Free For All Championship leg Saturday night at The
Meadowlands. Joining him this round are stable-mates Clear Vision (post
1) and Bettor’s Edge (post 9). While conspicuous by his absence, Burke
explained why Foiled Again is qualifying this week and not entered in the TVG
FFA event. “Each leg I want to race three out of the four I have in
there. This week Foiled gets the night off.”
Clear Vision, who just missed to Dancin Yanee in a world record mile of 1:47.2
at Pocono last week is having an excellent campaign thus far for Burke and will
be driven by Matt Kakaley. “He has been awesome this year,” Burke added.
“He’ll be a factor in there.” The last of the trio is Bettor’s Edge,
piloted by Joe Bongiorno, who despite his last two race lines, has been better
than one may think. “He had no chance last week the way the race shaped
up, but he was super,” said Burke. “The key with him is getting him into
the race and if he gets a trip, he’ll be right there.”
The Burke entry has been installed as the 8/5 morning-line favorite for this
week’s $50,000 TVG Free For All leg.
Warrawee Needy (post 3) will begin as the second choice, sporting a 3-1 morning
line with Tim Tetrick at the lines once again. Warrawee Needy came up a
neck short to Allstar Legend in the $30,000 Free For All Handicap last week at
The Meadowlands after setting a blistering pace, getting to three-quarters in
1:19.4.
Bolt The Duer made a favorable impression in his 2014 debut, finishing a solid
third behind Sweet Lou and Foiled Again. “He was really good,” said his
regular driver Mark MacDonald. “He acted like he needed that start. He
was racing against horses that had all been racing quite a bit already this
year. I really think he is ready to step up and have a very big
year.” Bolt The Duer will start from post 2 and is 4-1 on the morning
line.
The remainder of this week’s TVG FFA leg consists of Thinking Out Loud, Modern
Legend, Word Power, Golden Receiver and Dovuto Hanover. Total earnings
for the field of 10 is over $12.5 Million. This $50,000 TVG FFA leg will
go postward as race six on a 13-race program that also features the second leg
of the New Jersey Sire Stakes for three year old colt and filly pacers.
Post time is 7:15 P.M.
