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Trainer Ron Burke had three of the seven participants in this year’s installment of the $150,000 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel and managed to take the first three spots at the finish led by world champion This Is The Plan.
Yannick Gingras piloted This Is The Plan, who brought his close to $2.3 Million in career earnings to The Spa and wound up as the 7-5 betting favourite in the 12th annual Gerrity.
Gingras moved the standout to the lead in a :26.2 first quarter before giving way to fellow Burke trainee Backstreet Shadow. That one retook command after the sizzling first quarter and cruised through the first half in :55.2. It appeared that after three-quarters went in 1:22.3 that it would come down to those two stalwarts, but just then is when yet another Burke trainee tossed his hat into the ring.
Done Well seized the lead with a swift 26.3 opening panel in the slop, and he found the wire just in time to capture Friday’s $16,000 Open Handicap Pace at The Meadows.
With a two-length lead turning for home, Done Well appeared to have the race in hand. But with the formidable Macadoodledoo bearing down, the six-year-old Well Said-Dagnabit Hanover gelding had to dig in for Dave Palone to hold off Macadoodledoo by a half-length margin in 1:51.2. Prince Of Tides completed the ticket.
Ron Burke trains the winner, who lifted his lifetime bankroll to $565,283, for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby and Wingfield Brothers LLC.
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The lights of the tote board shone brightly across the “sloppy” track after each of the $50,000 Meadowlands Pace eliminations on Saturday (July 10) at The Meadowlands when a pair of long-odd competitors crossed the beam first.
A breathtaking 81-1 upset by Hellabalou, with Andrew McCarthy at the lines, was the highlight of the first $50,000 elimination for the Meadowlands Pace.
The Sweet Lou colt, trained by Eddie Dennis, got everyone’s attention right off the gate as he swept to the lead from post 7 moving to the first turn. I had a look across [as the field got started off the gate] and nobody really looked that dedicated to leaving hard,” McCarthy said after the race, “so I bounced him out of there and got him to the front.”