Washington, PA — The 2021 stakes season kicks off with a bang Saturday (May 1) at The Meadows when the track hosts a $153,856 Pennsylvania Sires Stake for sophomore colt and gelding pacers — featuring Southwind Gendry and Summa Cum Laude, a pair of the division’s prospective superstars — as well as day-long activities to help fans celebrate the simulcast of the Kentucky Derby which follows the live card.

In addition to the sires stake, the card offers a $100,000 PA Stallion Series event for 3-year-old male pacers. The 13-race live program and the Derby Day festivities begin at the special post time of 11:25 a.m.

The PASS will see a pair of last year’s top freshmen, both from the Ron Burke stable, kick off their sophomore campaigns in the same division, which goes as race six.

Southwind Gendry banked $583,069 in 2020. USTA/Mark Hall photo.

Southwind Gendry not only won the PASS championship, but he also scored in such other prestigious events as the Matron Stake and splits of the Bluegrass and the International Stallion. The Always B Miki-Gambler’s Passion gelding, a $30,000 yearling purchase, banked $583,069 for owners Burke Racing Stable, Phillip Collura, Knox Services and J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby.

Despite those accomplishments — and his flashy mark of 1:50f — perhaps his most impressive strength is his ability to get the job done on any size track, with any trip.

“He just wants to win. That’s innate to him and it’s probably his biggest advantage,” Burke says. “He’s come back perfect, just as good as he was at the end of last year.”

Southwind Gendry leaves from post five with Yannick Gingras aboard. He’ll have to be sharp to outperform his stablemate, Summa Cum Laude, who was nearly as distinguished last year but, Burke says, puzzling at times.

Perfect Sting (#2, inside) and Summa Cum Laude (#6) hit the finish line together in the first dead heat for win in the 37-year history of the Breeders Crown. Southwind Gendry (#3) finished third. Dean Gillette Photography.

The son of Somebeachsomewhere-Western Graduate pulled off one of the shockers of 2020, dead heating with Perfect Sting — at nearly 22-1 — to share the Breeders Crown championship. Perfect Sting finished the season unbeaten and waltzed off with the division’s Dan Patch Award.

“We (Burke Racing, Collura, Weaver Bruscemi and the Silva-Purnel-Libby group) gave a lot for him ($260,000), and he looked like a million dollars,” Burke says. “But he wasn’t as good on a five-eighths-mile track as he was on a mile track. Horses that normally couldn’t touch him on a mile track would beat him on the smaller track. He’s a little better gaited this year, but with him, we’ll be shooting for the big races at the big tracks because that’s where he excels.”

Summa Cum Laude has drawn post three with Dexter Dunn in the sulky.

Burke will send three more forward in the other PASS split (race four), which shows the depth of his stable in this division: Lou’s Pearlman (post one, Gingras), Lunar (post five, Ronnie Wrenn Jr.), and Literl Lad Hanover (post seven, David Miller). Of the trio, Lunar probably is the most intriguing. He missed his entire freshman campaign with an injury but now has won all five career starts against admittedly softer competition. Can the Sweet Lou-Crescent City gelding step up?

Lunar missed his entire freshman campaign with an injury but now has won all five career starts. Chris Gooden photo.

“Last year,” Burke says, “we thought he was right there with my top horses. Something flew up on the track and hit him, causing a stress fracture in a back leg. All we needed to do to treat it was give him time off. We’re excited to see if he can go with my top three. If he can go with them, he can go with any of them.”

The Meadows and the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association (MSOA) have planned virtually nonstop Derby Day fan activities, including giveaways and prizes for fans rocking Derby hats (register at the MSOA booth); food trucks, as well as the Meadows Grub and Go Shack, on the apron; and a Beer Garden featuring the Leinie Lodge from Leinenkugel, the Bud Light Jeep Gladiator and the Parched Pony Mobile Bar, a customized horse trailer converted to a traveling tavern. Woodford Reserve Mint Juleps are the day’s featured libations.

The celebration continues after the races when DJ Fresh spins platters from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. in the H Lounge of The Hyatt Place Pittsburgh South Hotel.