"She’s my best three-year-old filly hands down. I’m hoping she can finish up the year strong now...She’s my best chance at having a real top four or five-year-old.”
Ron Burke believes Sayitall BB is his best three-year-old female pacer, which is why he kept her off the racetrack for more than three months during the summer.
Sayitall BB, who has won 11 of 16 races and finished worse than third only once in her career, was lightly staked this season. Rather than race the filly against older horses, Burke decided to wait for better opportunities in the fall.
Last week, Sayitall BB returned from hiatus to win the $28,000 American-National Stakes Consolation by 2-1/2 lengths over stablemate Southwind Silence in 1:51.3 at Balmoral Park. It was her first appearance since being supplemented to the $300,000 James M. Lynch Memorial and finishing second by a head to Fancy Desire on June 28 at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
On Friday night, Sayitall BB competes in the first of two $37,600 divisions of the Cinderella Stakes at Maywood Park. She will start from post five with Tim Tetrick at the lines.
“There was no reason for me to race a three-year-old against open mares,” said Burke, who owns Sayitall BB with Weaver Bruscemi LLC. “She had these last couple stakes at the end (of the year) here so I gave her a break and just came back. "
Burke purchased Sayitall BB last October after the filly won her debut by 4-1/2 lengths in 2:00.4 at Lebanon Raceway. She went 4-for-4 the rest of the year in conditioned races at The Meadows.
She continued racing into 2014, winning a leg of January’s Blizzard Series at Woodbine and finishing sixth in the final. She enjoyed a rest until April, then went back to work, winning a preliminary leg of the New Jersey Sire Stakes and finishing second to Act Now in the championship.
Sayitall BB won a conditioned race at Harrah’s Philadelphia before heading to the Lynch, where she finished third in her elimination and second in the final.
A daughter of stallion Tell All and mare Challo B B, Sayitall BB is a half-sister to million-dollar-earner Go On BB, who also raced for the Burke Stable.
Burke on Sunday broke his own record for purses in a season, now at $22.25 million, and the depth of his stable helped make it easier to be patient with Sayitall BB. Stakes-winner Allstar Rating has earned $179,160 and Southwind Silence $128,915 this year to go with Sayitall BB’s $167,660.
“It is a luxury that we have here,” Burke said. “We can do the right thing by them and not worry about it because somebody else will usually pick up the pace. We can be patient with them.”
Sayitall BB’s stakes schedule still includes the upcoming Circle City and, if all goes well, she could be supplemented to the Breeders Crown in November.
Burke’s night at Maywood isn’t limited to Sayitall BB. He also sends out Big Boy Dreams in the $180,000 Windy City Pace for three-year-old male pacers. The colt starts from post three with Tetrick driving. To his inside are American-National Stakes runner-up Somewhere In L A and Lets Drink On It, who in September won a heat of the Little Brown Jug.
“Even though he’s a real big horse, I think he’s more of a half-mile (racetrack) horse,” Burke said. “Timmy’s driven him before and done well with him, so I like this spot here. The three that look like the better horses all drew 1-2-3, so how they get shuffled out leaving is going to be a big thing on how we end up finishing.”
Big Boy Dreams, who is making his third start for Burke after spending the early part of the season in New York in the stable of Tracy Brainard, has won three of nine races this year and earned $78,495. Last year, the son of If I Can Dream-Stefani Blue Chip won five of 10 starts and finished second to Hes Watching in the New York Sire Stakes championship. He is owned by Dominick Rosato.
In his first start with Burke, Big Boy Dreams finished third behind Burke’s Limelight Beach and Hes Watching in a division of the Bluegrass Stakes at The Red Mile. Last week, he won the $25,000 American-National Consolation by four lengths in 1:50.1.
Burke-trainee JK Endofanera, whose wins include the North America Cup and American-National Stakes, is the richest three-year-old pacer this year, with $964,685. Limelight Beach, whose wins include the Little Brown Jug, has banked $524,118, good for sixth place in the division.
“I don’t know if (Big Boy Dreams) can go with the top four or five, but he’s getting better, so we’ll see,” Burke said. “We’ve had Limelight and JK for a while, so we know what they are. With him, we don’t really have a great idea what his top level is.”
To view Maywood's entries for Friday night, click the following link: Friday Entries - Maywood Park.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.