Washington, PA – In Italian and romance languages, Melillo’s name means “little apple.”
Melillo, the 3-year-old pacing colt, could become the apple of the Fredericktown, PA-based Burke Racing Stable’s eye with a win Saturday night (Oct. 24) in the $664,500 Grade 1 Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Pace at Eldorado Scioto Downs in Columbus, OH.
He’s going for the whole bushel.
Melillo, the winner of the second of last week’s Breeders Crown eliminations, is owned by the Burke Racing Stable, Dr. Jason Melillo, and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
According to Dr. Melillo (MA-LIL-OH), the horse was named by co-owner Mark Weaver against the concerns of Dr. Melillo, who feared the name would be pronounced wrong.
“I think Mark names all the horses, and he usually comes up with some really great names,” said Dr. Melillo, who resides in Powell, OH, in Delaware County and a suburb of Columbus. “He sent me a text a couple years ago and he showed me the name and I’m like, ‘Dude, do you want everybody to mispronounce this horse’s name? Because everybody mispronounces my last name.’ I get all kinds of different permutations of it. And so he goes, ‘Hey, if he wins, they’ll pronounce it correctly.’ I thought OK, fair enough.”
Melillo, a son of Sweet Lou-Rosemary Rose, will leave from the No. 2 post in the race, which also features Gentleman’s Club, who has the rail and won the first elimination this past Saturday. From post 3 and out the pacers include Funky Buddha, Brandon Blvd, Melillo’s stablemate Al Papi, Sweet Lovin Lou, Odds On Mr Mamba, Fragment and Cooperstown Boy.
Brandon Blvd, who Melillo bested in the elimination race, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite.
Melillo, who will be driven by Ronnie Wrenn Jr., has grinded through the 2026 season, highlighted by a victory in the Carl Milstein Memorial (G2) at Northfield Park in 1:50.4 on Aug. 18. He has earned $844,467 in his sophomore campaign and captured the $300,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sept. 6. In addition, he was second to Al Papi in the $420,500 Delvin Miller Adios (G1), $300,000 Max Hempt Memorial (G2), and $550,000 Little Brown Jug (G1).
Since making his first Breeders Crown start in 2009, trainer Ron Burke has earned $16 million, started in 244 Crown finals and won 24 trophies in the championship series. He’s won this division twice: with Sippinonsearoc (2025) and with Dorsoduro Hanover (2018).
“I think he’s starting to get the recognition,” said Burke, the Hall of Fame trainer, about Melillo. “To me, if he wins the Breeders Crown, he’s the 3-year-old pacer of the year.”
Burke said he likes the chances of Melillo and Al Papi.
More ballyhooed 3-year-old pacers Beau Jangles and Redland Rocket Man failed to advance out of the first elimination.
“You can see the gap between the horses is not that great, between one through seven or eight,” Burke said. “It’s just not.
“I think both (Melillo and Al Papi) have progressed and gotten better as the year has gone on. The idea is that the big money is at the end of the year and you don’t want them raced out. I’m happy with both.”
In 2026, Melillo has won five times in 18 starts, been second six times and third three times. He’s finished in the top three 77.8 percent of the time and in his career, he has finished in the top three 26 times out of 32 races (81.3 percent).
“Melillo just shows up every week, but that’s kind of a common theme with Ronnie’s horses,” Weaver said. “He’s not afraid to race him in all the big races. Some of them can handle it, and some of them can’t. Melillo has battled in all the big ones this year, and we got one more to see how he does.
“There’s a lot of assumptions made along the way. I remember they always said there was just the big three early in the year, they talked about Beau Jangles, Brandon Blvd and Odds On Mr Mamba, and I was kind of (saying) it’s more than just the big three – that it was and still is a pretty wide-open group. Last year, we had to go up to Canada (Woodbine Mohawk Park) to race in the Breeders Crown. That’s a road game for us. This year, we’re at home. You must be able to sustain (performance). We have two good chances. Al Papi was loaded (Saturday). If he had any room, I think he might have won.”
Dr. Melillo is an OBGYN, moved to private practice and is now a full-time administrator. He is excited for Saturday’s final and feels winning a Breeders Crown title is the top race in the harness season.
It’s a long way from the time Dr. Melillo let Burke know he had interest in owning Standardbred racehorses.
“I didn’t know how it worked,” Dr. Melillo said. “He said: ‘All right.’ He goes, ‘I’ll look for some horses and when, when we find some, I’ll have Mark get ahold of you.’ I started buying horses with Ronnie and one of the first horses we bought, and the first race I went to, she set the track record at Scioto. I didn’t know what to do because I had never experienced it before. I didn’t know if you had to prove that you’re an owner. So, I didn’t even get in the winner’s circle to take a picture. Ronnie called me and asked what I was doing? He’s like, ‘You go take a picture with the horse.’ He told me to just go in and take the picture with the horse. I didn’t know what to do.”
Dr. Melillo won’t be unsure Saturday if Melillo wins the Breeders Crown.
“I’ll be running to the winner’s circle, if he wins; I may be there before the horse,” he said.
Dr. Melillo said he couldn’t ask for more than consistency and he’s hopeful Melillo is peaking at the right time.
“He’s been a contender in every race throughout the year,” Dr. Melillo said. “He hasn’t had the easiest go of it either. I mean he’s had terrible draws. He hasn’t had the greatest trips, he’ll get hung out sometimes or he’ll get caught between or he’ll get locked in. But somehow, he’s determined and he gets up there and he gets himself in the mix, almost every time. It’s fun to watch.
“I’ve had a lot of cool things happen in my short stint in this, my little corner of this sport. I’ve done some breeding. I’ve had a couple sire stakes winners. I had a real good trotter with Ronnie, who came in second in the Breeders Crown. I’ve had horses race in the Jugette, but this would be something special because the Breeders Crown has the panache. People who don’t understand harness racing understand when you say Breeders Crown, they know it’s a big deal.”
How about those apples?
Scioto Downs will host all four Breeders Crown championships for 2-year-olds on Friday (Oct. 23) with the remaining eight finals to follow on Saturday. First-race post time both nights is 6 p.m. (EDT). Friday night’s action will be aired on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) from 8-11 p.m. and Saturday’s on FOX Sports 2 (FS2) 7-10:30 p.m. Click here for free past performances.
For more information about the Breeders Crown, visit the Hambletonian Society and Eldorado Scioto Downs websites.