MGM Borgata Pacing Series eligible Hellabalou was in a race of his own, returning from a winter break to qualify at The Meadows on Tuesday morning (March 14).

With Dan Charlino in the sulky, Hellabalou crossed to command from the outermost post eight and extended his lead at every call during the morning's sixth qualifier contested over a 'good' track, clocking fractions of :27.2, :56.3 and 1:24.2 en route to a 1:52.4 victory 21-1/2 lengths ahead of the field. The season-debuting Northern Spy was second and Tap Tap Tap finished third.

A career winner of 18 races including the 2021 Adios and more than half a million dollars, the five-year-old son of Sweet Lou has won six of his last eight starts in Open company at The Meadows and Northfield Park. He started his 2023 campaign with two of those wins in early January before making his return to action today for trainer Ron Burke. 

Hellabalou is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Eric Good, Weaver Bruscemi and Lawrence Karr.

The MGM Borgata Pacing Series begins on Monday, March 20 at Yonkers Raceway and continues for five consecutive weeks with $50,000 preliminary legs before a $500,000 estimated final on April 24. Entries are due today at 3 p.m.

A replay of the Tuesday qualifying session, including the sixth race with Hellabalou, is available below courtesy of the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association. (The video will start playing at the sixth race. Right click on the video and select "Show all controls" to watch other qualifying races.)