May 19, 2012
Anyone wondering if Sweet Lou still has the magic that carried him to a record-setting 2011 season as a 2-year-old probably had their questions answered on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
Making his 2012 debut, the pride of the Burke barn coasted to a win in a $106,113 division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for 3-year-old colts and geldings on the pace. Sweet Lou romped by 3 ¾ lengths in 1:49:3 without breaking a sweat.
Driver Dave Palone sent the son of Yankee Cruiser to the front of the pack at the 3/8-mile marker and he was never seriously challenged from that point. Palone kept him under wraps for most of the mile, cutting Sweet Lou loose in the stretch to close in 26:4 just to show his fellow competitors they never had a chance. Hillbilly Hanover finished 2nd and Mc Attaboy got the show.
The win makes it 11 victories in 13 career starts for Sweet Lou, who won the Breeders Crown championship at Woodbine in October in World Record time to cap his amazing 2-year-old campaign. The winner’s share of the purse puts his career earnings at $739,703.
In other Sire Stakes action, Mcerlean parlayed a pocket trip and the passing lane into a victory in the first division. Dave Palone did the driving for trainer John Berger, as Mcerlean, making his second start of the 2012, upended pacesetting favorite Easy Again in the stretch to win by a half-length in a career-best 1:50:1. All Week finished 3rd.
In the second split, Dapper Dude, who won at Woodbine in his 2012 debut, followed that up with a late-kicking Sire Stakes victory. John Campbell was in the bike for trainer Robert McIntosh, as Dapper Dude won by a half-length in 1:49:4. Shady Breeze finished second and Cold Hearted Shark gained the show.