Making the final start of his racing career, Sweet Lou went out a winner in the co-featured $500,000 pacing final of the TVG Free-For-All Championship Series on Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack.
With Ron Pierce in the sulky, 4-5 favourite Sweet Lou made a quarter-pole move and never looked back. The five-year-old son of Yankee Cruiser swept to command from third after a :26.2 opening panel and continued to lead the field of top pacers through middle fractions of :54 and 1:21.3 before opening up nearly four lengths on top down the stretch and hitting the wire in 1:48 flat on a 34 degree evening in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Sweet Lou's stablemates, defending champion Foiled Again and Clear Vision, advanced first and second over to give trainer Ron Burke a sweep of the top three spots. Breeders Crown champion Thinking Out Loud and State Treasurer finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Earlier this year, Sweet Lou put together one of the sport's most impressive streaks, winning 10 in a row in sub-1:49 (with six faster than 1:48). The 33-time winner who has earned $3.48 million in purses will stand stud at Diamond Creek Farm in 2015.
"He's better tonight than he's ever been," said Pierce, offering up a final plea to the pacer's connections. "I hope Ronnie's listening. Ronnie, if you are, please change your mind and let's race this guy next year. I'm having a lot of fun.
"I've never come close to driving a horse of this caliber. He's just unbelievable. He's the whole package."
Sweet Lou is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Lawrence Karr and Phillip Collura.
“It was a very hard decision,” said Karr of choosing to retire Sweet Lou. “At the Burke operation we like to race, but this was the best opportunity for him to be a stallion.”
Later on the card, Maple Leaf Trot champion Intimidate pulled off another upset victory in the $500,000 TVG Series Trot final for his Quebec connections.
Driver Scott Zeron had 14-1 shot Intimidate fourth over turning for home and the Justice Hall gelding followed cover wide and swept by the field on the far outside in deep stretch to prevail in 1:51.2 and send his career bankroll well over the million-dollar mark.
"[The field is] stacked with the best horses in North America," said Zeron from the winner's circle. "I was just trying to go out of there for a decent trip. I saw when the draw came out that I'd most likely be following Market Share and it worked out."
Even-money favourite Sebastian K left from mid-pack to establish the lead with trotting mare Maven rolling up wide and then dropping into the pocket at the :26.1 opening quarter mark.
As Sebastian K trotted down the backstretch, Creatine rushed up from fourth to apply first over pressure to the half in :54.1 with Arch Madness catching up to his cover. Market Share followed third over with Intimidate on his back.
Sebastian K and Creatine raced head-to-head past three-quarters in 1:23 and into the stretch with Maven searching for room along the pylons and Market Share fanning three-wide, but Intimidate rallied off his cover for the victory. Market Share edged out Creatine for second while Dws Ny Yank came on from the backfield for fourth with Maven finishing right there in fifth.
Intimidate paid $30 to win. The five-year-old homebred gelding, who now boasts 26 victories on his resume, is trained by Luc Blais and owned by Determination of Westmount, Que. and Judith Farrow of Hemmingford, Que.
"It feels great [to win the last big race of the year]," said Zeron. "I just want to say hi to everybody back at home in Quebec because this horse represents Canada and Quebec."