Jamaica’s Usain Bolt was one of the most decorated sprinters of all time, sweeping the 100- and 200-meter dashes in three straight Olympiads (2008, 2012, 2016) — an unprecedented feat. High drama also marked his career, such as the time a camera operator riding a Segway veered into Bolt and knocked him flat following a 2015 race.
Mark Weaver, whose Weaver Bruscemi LLC is one of harness racing’s most successful and prominent owners, saw that near catastrophe — “that could have been an absolute disaster” — and it remained in his mind when he and his partners bred Sweet Lou to their mare Lucys Pearl. The group — including Burke Racing Stable, Elizabeth Novak and Howard Taylor — called the colt Lousain Bolt to honour the great champion.
Lousain Bolt will be sprinting for his own gold in Friday’s $160,618 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes for freshman colt and gelding pacers at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. He’s drawn post two in Race 1 with Yannick Gingras driving. Friday’s card also features a $60,000 PA Stallion Series event for two-year-old colt and gelding pacers. First post is 5:10 p.m.
Even beyond his inspirational name, Lousain Bolt has license to be great; his full brother, Lous Pearlman, captured last year’s Little Brown Jug. Indeed, the family is so promising that David McDuffee leased Lucys Pearl for a year so that he could breed her to his young stallion Papi Rob Hanover — an unusual arrangement to be sure. Lucys Pearl is back in foal to Sweet Lou this year.
Lousain Bolt has shown signs of living up to his namesake’s prowess. His best mile came in a PA All-Stars split at Pocono when he took his mark of 1:52.4. In the three PASS preliminary legs so far, he’s been good but not great, with a second and two fourth-place finishes. Thus, he may need an in-the-money showing to cement his spot in the $260,000 PASS championship.
Weaver acknowledges that the colt’s performance has been uneven.
“The jury’s still out,” he said. “He’s extremely talented and we’ve purposely tried to bring him along the right way. Yannick’s done a great job with that, but it’s been like one step forward, one step back. He could go either way. We’d like to make the final, but we’re going for $80,000 Friday. That’s enough to get you motivated right there.”
Weaver believes we may see Lousain Bolt on the podium — uh, in the winners’ circle — more often next year.
“His family has been pretty good at two and three, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed big improvement,” said Weaver. “I’m optimistic about his future. I think he can be a dominant horse. That would be even more satisfying for us since he’s a homebred.”
(MSOA)