A pair of Ron Burke trainees with Grand Circuit aspirations — 2024 Dan Patch Award winner Louprint and multiple stakes winner Swingtown — put forth solid efforts over less than ideal conditions during the session of qualifiers on Saturday, April 12 at The Meadowlands.
With Dexter Dunn subbing for regular pilot Ronnie Wrenn Jr., Louprint picked off pacesetter Go Go Grasshopper in the final strides of a 1:52.3 mile over a track rated 'good.' Dunn settled Louprint into fourth as Go Go Grasshopper (Joe Bongiorno) carved out fractions of :28.1, :56.2 and 1:24.4. Dunn had Louprint situated second over in fourth at that third station, and tipped into the three path for the stretch drive. With Go Go Grasshopper running out of go late in the mile, Louprint's :26.4 final quarter put him on the wire first, a head better than Go Go Grasshopper with Railroad Station (David Miller) rounding out the top trio.
A homebred of Pennsylvanians Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and Phil Collura, Louprint (Sweet Lou - Rockin Racer) posted a 7-2-1 summary from 10 seasonal starts with a mark of 1:48.4 and earnings in excess of $1 million. After capping his on-track season with a win in the 2024 Breeders Crown (pictured above), his year culminated with stateside divisional honours.
The accomplished and dangerous stablemate of Louprint, Swingtown qualified a tick faster to clock the fastest mile of the day — 1:52.2, a mile time that matched the earlier effort of speedster Mad Max Hanover.
Swingtown sat second in the early part of his sophomore debut for driver Yannick Gingras as Papis Rocket (Tim Tetrick) passed the first marker in :28.3. Down the backside, Swingtown deuce-popped and landed on the lead through a :56.2 half. He wasn't bested from there, hitting the three-quarter mark in 1:23.4 then powering home in :28.3 for the 1-3/4 length decision over stablemate Papis Rocket. Master Ofthe House (Andrew McCarthy) was next best.
Owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC of Pennsylvania and Ohioans Hatfield Stables, Knox Services Inc. and R A S Racing LLC, Swingtown (Downbytheseaside - Swinging Beauty) took his mark of 1:50.1 in his Breeders Crown elim, one of six wins during his $653,202-earning freshman season.
Full qualifying results from The Meadowlands are available here.
(Standardbred Canada)