Five stakes finals, worth a combined $250,000, will be contested Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack and trainer Ron Burke is represented in all of them
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Burke will send out No Monkeys Allowed and Meirs Hanover in the $57,000 Escort Final for three-year-old colt and gelding pacers. Although No Monkeys Allowed earned the role of 3-1 morning line favourite after sweeping two preliminary legs of the series, Burke considers Meirs Hanover to be the stronger half of the pair. The colt rolled to a decisive 1:51.2 victory in the first round of the Escort Series, but then folded from the pocket in the second leg on November 6. The son of Artsplace-Mary Mattgalane has a record of four wins, two second and one third in 15 starts this season.
"Meirs Hanover is maybe the stronger of the two," Burke said. "Two weeks ago he had a sinus infection when he finished fifth. I think he's finally ready to live up to his billing. He's shown flashes of ability all year and I really think he's going to be a top horse. [Co-owners] Strollin Stable have part of Won The West and they thought they'd give me a shot with this guy. He's finally starting to put it together."
Meirs Hanover will start from Post 6 in the Escort Final with Brian Sears in the sulky. His stablemate, No Monkeys Allowed, will start to his immediate outside with Yannick Gingras at the lines. No Monkeys Allowed showcased his gate speed in round two of the series as he fired out from Post 9 and wired the field in a career best 1:51.4 clocking. The son of Rocknroll Hanover-Weeping Wanabe has finished first or second in nine of 13 career starts.
"Joe Di Scala, Jr. bought No Monkeys Allowed for $5,000 about three or four months ago, and this horse has been a total shock to me," Burke said. "He hasn't gone a bad race yet, and he's learning as we go."
Burke will also send out the favourite in the $46,200 Savilla Lobell Final for two-year-old pacing fillies. Nutmegs Cider, the 5-2 choice, bids for a series sweep from Post 2. The daughter of Mcardle-Decider lowered her mark to 1:54 with a dominant victory in the second round of the Savilla Lobell on November 5.
"Nutmegs Cider has been superbly driven in both legs of that series by Yannick Gingras," Burke said. "I think Yannick's development as a driver this year has been super. He could always make speed, but now he's putting them in the right place all the time. He's developed patience and he's made the top five in the country in my opinion. [Pennsylvania-based trainer] Brian Brown sent me this one, and that means they're usually push button, ready to go."
The rest of Burke's stakes finalists have been more challenging, beginning with 3-year-old trotter Bookem in the $47,400 Paul Doherty Memorial Final. Sent off as the favourite, Bookem broke stride while in the outer tier and finished ninth in the second round of the series. The gelding will start from Post 10 in the final with Gingras in the sulky.
"With Bookem, it's a behavioral thing," Burke said. "[In the second series leg] it looked like he was a winner, but he got overanxious second over. He wanted to go three-deep, got mad and broke. He's a very talented horse, but like a lot of horses that come to the Meadowlands he's gotten more anxious. We just need to calm him back down.
"His co-owner Richard Latessa is on Broadway," Burke added. "We're going to see him in Promises, Promises."
Burke is happy with the way Southwind Milo, his contender in the $52,200 No No Yankee Final, has improved since arriving at the Meadowlands. The son of Artiscape held second after cutting the mile in round two of the series for two-year-old colt and gelding pacers. He will start from Post 6 in the final with Greg Grismore at the lines.
"We broke Southwind Milo as a baby and he's been a disappointment all year," Burke acknowledged. "It was finally at Chester, recently, when he started to come around. We thought he was set up to be a small-track horse, but it seems he's been able to find his speed more on the mile track. We're happy with the way he's been able to turn it around here."
Completing Burke's Saturday lineup is For All We Know, a finalist in the $50,400 Stienams Place for three-year-old filly pacers. The daughter of Rocknroll Hanover will start from Post 6 (program no. 1A) with driver John Campbell. She is coupled in the wagering with Star Keeper due to the common ownership of Howard Taylor. Unraced at two, For All We Know has hit the board in 11 of 21 starts this season.
"For All We Know is going to be a long shot," Burke said. "She needs the pace to set up for her rally and, hopefully, they can come back to her at the wire. She can leave but she seems to do better when she sits, stalks and gets out late. She came to me this year after not racing as a two-year-old, and she's actually been a pleasant surprise."
In partnership with his father, Mickey, Ron Burke has campaigned the sport's leading stable for the fifth straight year. The 41-year-old native of Washington, Pennsylvania is capping off a record-setting season, with 777 wins and just past $17 million earnings, eclipsing his own marks of 761 and $14.8 million in 2009.
"For a long time this year, it didn't seem like things were going to be as good as 2009," he said. "Some of our better horses weren't quite in mid-season form. They were struggling more than I thought they would. We had some top horses break down on us, so they couldn't contribute. These were horses we had counted on for big years.
"Then, for a couple of months, in August and September, things were unbelievable," he continued. "Leading up to the Breeders Crown in October, we were winning races everywhere. We had a lot of horses racing and they were all racing well. Our top ones, like Won The West and Buck I St Pat, picked up things up on their own again and it seemed like the barn just followed them. Overall, we're really happy with the way things are ending.
"Won The West [$1,393,348] and Buck I St Pat [$723,865] are both coming back next year, and even Foiled Again [$911,365] was tremendous," Burke said of his top earners. "I feel bad because it's the end of the year, and I think [Foiled Again's] the sharpest horse in training. Rock N Soul had a great second half for us, finishing second in the Mistletoe Shalee and Breeders Crown. Fred And Ginger made half a million and his older sister, Ginger And Fred, went over $400,000."
Track analyst Bob Heyden takes a closer look at the contenders in the five fall series finals in the Meadowlands' latest video feature below.
(Meadowlands Racetrack)