Washington, PA – Al Papi led a sweep of the exacta for trainer Ron Burke in the $420,500 Grade 1 Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids, presented by 1/ST BET, on Saturday (July 25) at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. Driven by Yannick Gingras in the 60th edition of the race for 3-year-old pacers, Al Papi won on the front in 1:48.1 at Burke’s home track, defeating stablemate Melillo by a head and Odds On Mr Mamba by a neck.
Starting from post 4 off his 1:47.2 elimination win a week ago, Al Papi blasted out and cleared another Burke Brigade member in Frantic Hanover (driven by Tim Tetrick) well before the :26.3 quarter. North America Cup champion Odds On Mr Mamba (James MacDonald) lined up third, followed by Burke-trained Melillo (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.), who was able to slide down from post 9.
At the half-mile marker, which was reached in :54.2, Al Papi was still on top, but behind him a two-wide Sweet Lovin Lou (Scott Zeron) was trying to flush Melillo, who in turn was trying to get Odds On Mr Mamba to pull, which he did past that station. Al Papi was strong on the lead, though, and Odds On Mr Mamba was only able to advance up to Gingras’ wheel as they raced on the backstretch for the final time.
It looked like Al Papi was heading for a romping win heading to three-quarters in 1:20.2 as he got separation on Odds On Mr Mamba and Frantic Hanover in the pocket, but he got rough gaited for a bit on the final turn, which allowed the competition to get back into the race. Despite losing his momentum, Al Papi responded when asked by Gingras and wouldn’t let anybody go by, defeating the rallying Melillo by a head. Odds On Mr Mamba was a game third off the uncovered trip, followed by Frantic Hanover and Sweet Lovin Lou.
“In the middle of the last turn, honestly, I thought I was going to win by 10 lengths; that’s how he felt, he was so strong,” Gingras said. “The plugs were in and I was still just letting him rock, and he just got a little bumpy on me for a couple strides. Once he gathered himself up, I couldn’t get him going again. He just kind of lost his focus, but thankfully we still came out on top.”
This was the third win in the Delvin Miller Adios for both Gingras and Burke, but the first time they had teamed up to capture it. Burke’s father, Mickey, also won the Adios in 2007.
“I’ve won it a few times, but never for the Burke Brigade,” Gingras said. “I know this race means the world to the Burke Brigade, so it’s probably the most special one.”
Al Papi is a homebred son of Papi Rob Hanover-Baron Remy for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby, Larry Karr, and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. He has compiled a summary of 6-7-4 from 20 career starts, has earned $948,945 and paid $3.80 to win as the 4-5 favorite. He led a $19.60 exacta and a $75.80 trifecta.
“Every time it’s even better than the last time,” said Burke, who sent out five horses in the Adios final for the second straight year. “Being 1-2 is something my dad had done before. I’m proud to try to imitate things he’s done, so we’re very happy. The horses raced great, and Yannick drove a great race.
“Once we got everybody seated and we had one parked on the outside, I was pretty sure we were in the right spots to get where we wanted. Then on the last turn it got a little bunched up and I was like ‘uh oh, this could be trouble,’ but my horses were surging at the wire, so I was happy. I thought they hung on, but you hate to come over here (to the winner’s circle) and find out you were second.”