“If you watched the whole card, there were no scary miles. Here are some of the best horses in the business, and nobody’s breaking 1:50. I don’t think anybody was outstanding. Maybe Sweet Lou wasn’t great, but he put us in a great spot.”

The number 4 hasn’t been particularly lucky for Sweet Lou. The 2011 Dan Patch Award winner left from post 4 as the favourite in the final of the Pepsi North America Cup and finished — you guessed it — fourth.

But he’ll likely try post 4 again in Saturday’s $600,000 final of the Meadowlands Pace as trainer Ron Burke says that’s the slot he’ll pick. Under the rules of the Meadowlands Pace, the connections of elimination winners Sweet Lou and Heston Blue Chip choose their post positions before the balance of the field is drawn Tuesday.

“I hope he’s in position where he doesn’t have to be first up,” Burke said, “but whatever trip he’s dealt he’ll deal with. I’d like to see him take his shot using his brush into the last turn.

“Racing at The Meadowlands makes a big difference for us. It’s another one of our home tracks. We race there every day, so it’s not like it’s something new for us.”

Sweet Lou captured his elim in 1:49.1, a tick slower than Heston Blue Chip’s winning time. Burke initially thought the son of Yankee Cruiser-Sweet Future hadn’t raced his best, a judgment he later modified.

Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Larry Karr and Phillip Collura own Sweet Lou, who has won 14 of 17 career starts and is ticketed for the Delvin Miller Adios at The Meadows following the Meadowlands Pace.

All Meadowlands Racetrack horsemen and owners are invited to watch the post position draw for the $600,000 Meadowlands Pace and get a sneak preview of the new Winners Bayonne facility on Tuesday, July 10. The proceedings will begin at 12:30 p.m. The connections of Sweet Lou and Heston Blue Chip earn the right to select their posts for the 2012 Meadowlands Pace Final.

(Meadows)