Dudes The Man, who finished a fast-closing third in his elimination, has been installed as the 5-2 morning line favourite for this Saturday’s $400,000 final of the Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids, Presented by Coors Light, at the Meadows.

Dudes The Man will start from Post 2 with Corey Callahan in the race bike. The elimination winners – Cooperstown, My Hero Ron and National Seelster – drew Post 4, Post 7 and Post 9, respectively.

First-race post time on Adios Day will be 12:20 p.m. The Adios is expected to head to post at approximately 4 p.m. The powerhouse card also features five other Grand Circuit stakes, the $50,000 Adios Consolation, and the $50,000 Roy D. Davis Memorial for four-year-old pacers.

Trainer Ron Burke will send out three Adios finalists – My Hero Ron, Yankee Bounty (Post 1) and Cooperstown, who was a 37-1 longshot in his elimination. Although Burke is North America’s perennial leading conditioner, he has not captured an Adios title as head trainer (he was assistant to his father Mickey when the stable’s May June Character won in 2007).

“Overall, I’m happy with it,” Burke said of the draw. “I’ll basically have one on the front, one in the middle and one from the back. One of those three should work out a trip and give me a chance.”

My Hero Ron was perhaps the most impressive of the elimination winners, powering to the lead early and controlling the mile without a serious challenge. The son of Well Said-Erma La Em is also fresh, with only seven starts this year. Although he’s won all three of his races since Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, others acquired him from the Erv Miller stable, Burke said he made no significant equipment changes.

“He was on his way for the former owners, and they just decided to take a profit,” Burke said. “This will be the first time he’s raced two weeks in a row for us. Yannick (driver Yannick Gingras) fits him. In the Adios, you need to be ultra-aggressive, and there’s nobody more aggressive than Yannick. I think that puts us in a good spot.”

The Adios field, in post position order with driver and morning line odds, appears below

1 – Yankee Bounty – Brett Miller – 8-1
2 – Dudes The Man – Corey Callahan – 5-2
3 – Trading Up – Brett Miller – 10-1
4 – Cooperstown – Matt Kakaley – 6-1
5 – Dreams Beachboy – Scott Zeron – 15-1
6 – Lost For Words – David Miller – 5-1
7 – My Hero Ron – Yannick Gingras – 3-1
8 – Angelo J Fra – Tony Hall – 15-1
9 – National Seelster – Tim Tetrick – 8-1

(Meadows)