Dapper Dude got rolling with a quarter-pole move and didn’t slow down until he crossed the wire in a track-record 1:51.2 in a division of Tuesday’s $242,535 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes at the Meadows
. The event for freshman colt and gelding pacers, known as the Tyler B, was contested over three divisions, with Sweet Lou and Hillbilly Hanover taking the other splits.
Dave Palone enjoyed a stakes double (Dapper Dude, Sweet Lou) among his seven wins — five for trainer Ron Burke — on the 15-race card, while Brett Miller fashioned a four-bagger.
Dapper Dude and Palone, who teamed for an earlier PASS win at Harrah’s Chester, humbled a strong field by kicking home in 27.4 and defeating Easy Again by three lengths. The first-over All Week was third.
The time lowered the previous track record of 1:52 for two-year-old colts held jointly by Runover Feeling, Kansas City Spur, I Fought Dalaw and Sweet Lou. It also equaled Allamerican Inca’s stake record for the Tyler B.
“He raced good for me at Chester, but he raced greenly,” Palone said. “It’s amazing how much he’s seasoned in the last month. He finished off the mile well - after I used him twice - and did everything I asked of him. That’s the full package right there.”
Bob McIntosh trains the homebred son of The Panderosa-Dress To Suggest for Robert McIntosh Stables and Al McIntosh Holdings.
Sweet Lou saw his track record fall, but that didn’t stop him from stretching his career unbeaten streak to five with a facile victory in 1:52.3. Special Forces was second and Maytime Terror completed the ticket.
When Sweet Lou got way third before launching a quarter-pole move, it marked the first time in his career that he wasn’t ahead at a pole. Just how good is he?
“All I can say is, I wish I owned him,” Palone said. “The thing I like is, here we are, nearly in September, and every race has gone pretty much as programmed. We’ve never had to hit the gas with him. We’ve never had to extend him. So he’s a very fresh two-year-old.”
Burke trains the son of Yankee Cruiser-Sweet Future, who vaulted over $100,000 in earnings, for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Larry Karr and Phillip Collura.
Dismissed at 14-1, Hillbilly Hanover provided the stake’s upset, scoring in the Lightning Lane for David Miller in 1:52.2. The rallying Mudslide missed by a nose while Mcboogie was third. Hillbilly Hanover was an even fifth in his previous PASS effort, a result Miller attributes to the youngster’s inexperience.
“He’s just maturing, getting stronger,” Miller said. “Before that first sires stake, he had only two qualifiers and a maiden race and hadn’t been in better than 1:57. He keeps coming. He has potential.”
Steven Bryden trains the Dragon Again-Hattie gelding for John Fielding, David McDuffee, Clay Horner and Adam Victor & Son Stable.
In the $22,500 Winners Over $10,000 Life/Preferred Handicap Pace, Biletnikoff held off stablemate Jojo N Goliath by a nose, blazing the back half in :54.3 en route to victory in 1:50.4. Andreoli Hanover was a ground-saving third.
Paul Kennedy trains Biletnikoff, a seven-year-old Keystone Raider-Strikeadeeze gelding who triumphed for the third time in his last four outings, for Markus Ernst.
(The Meadows)