Washington, PA — Sent off the 2-5 favorite, Good Deal justified that heavy support as he rolled to a front-end victory in Friday’s (March 25) $22,000 final of the Wilbur Zendt Memorial Pace, for 3- and 4-year-old horses, colts and geldings, at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows.

Stakes-tested sophomore Good Deal held his ground for an odds-on win in the Wilbur Zendt Memorial final. Chris Gooden photo.

A 3-year-old Sweet Lou-Cut A Deal gelding, Good Deal was well staked at 2 and responded by hitting the ticket in seven of 10 starts. Thus, he seemed more than qualified for the Wilbur Zendt late-closing series, and the results in the final showed it. After Dave Palone gave him a :29.3 second-quarter breather, he was able to withstand the Lightning Lane challenge of the pocket-sitting Pack Your Bags and defeated him by a half length in 1:53.4. Treasurer Delight completed the ticket.

Ron Burke trains Good Deal for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, J&T Silva – Purnel&Libby and Larry Karr. It was one of four wins for Palone on the 11-race card.

Friday’s “must-pay” Jackpot Pick-5 generated a pool exceeding $104,000 and multiple winning tickets returning $281.18.

Live racing at The Meadows resumes Wednesday (March 30), when the 11-race program features an $11,102.28 carryover in the final-race Super Hi-5. First post is 12:45 p.m.