The 2021 stakes season at The Meadows kicks off with a bang Saturday (May 1), when the track hosts a $153,856 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for sophomore pacing colts and geldings — featuring Southwind Gendry and Summa Cum Laude, a pair of the glamour division’s prospective superstars — as well as day-long activities to help fans celebrate the simulcast of the Kentucky Derby following the live card.
In addition to the sire stakes, the card offers a $100,000 Pennsylvania Stallion Series event for three-year-old male pacers. The 13-race live program and the Derby Day festivities begin at the special post time of 11:25 a.m.
The PASS will see a pair of last year’s top freshmen, both from the Ron Burke stable, kick off their sophomore campaigns in the same division, which goes as race six. Southwind Gendry not only won the PASS championship, but he also scored in such other prestigious events as the Matron Stakes and splits of the Bluegrass and the International Stallion Series. The Always B Miki-Gamblers Passion gelding, a $30,000 yearling purchase, banked $583,069 for owners Burke Racing Stable, Phillip Collura, Knox Services and J&T Silva-Purnel&Libby.