Jul 28, 2015 4 min read

MEADOW LANDS – Cooperstown’s amazing week just got a little better Tuesday afternoon.

The 3-year-old drew the No. 4 post for Saturday’s $525,000 Delvin Miller Adios at The Meadows Racetrack.

Cooperstown is coming off an upset win in one of the three Adios elimination races last Saturday. Going off at 35-1, Cooperstown, with Yannick Gingras in the sulky, came from third over down the stretch and caught the leader Tommy Terror. Cooperstown, the product of Four Starzzz Shark and American Charm, crossed in a career-best 1:49.4.

Dude’s The Man, with Corey Callahan, drew the No. 2 post and is the early-line favorite at 5-2.

Cooperstown, one of three horses from Burke Racing Stables, is 6-1 and will have Matt Kakaley in the sulky. My Hero Ron, one of the elimination winners, drew No. 7 for Burke and has Gingras in the sulky. My Hero Ron is holding 3-1 odds early. Yankee Bounty, trained by Burke and owned by Yankee Bounty Partnership of Fredericktown, leaves the second post with early 8-1 odds. Brett Miller is driving.

“It helps to have multiple (entries) here because the race is always crazy,” said Ron Burke. “How you think it’s going to work out is never how it works out.”

Over the past 22 years, preferred post positions (1-4) have produced the most winners in this race and favorites have won only 41 percent of the time. McWicked, with David Miller driving and owned by Casey Coleman, won last year’s race as the favorite. Burke Stables last produced a Pace for the Orchids winner in 2007, when May June Character, driven by George Brennan and trained by Mickey Burke, crossed in 1:51.1.

Burke knows all about longshots, having watched in disbelief in 2012 when Bolt The Duer left at 11-1 and stunned the Burke-trained favorite Sweet Lou, which was the 2-Year-Old Pacer of the Year, in a blistering 1:47.4, an Adios record. Bolt The Duer is the only horse to break 1:48 in the Adios. Also in that race, Breakin The Law, a Burke entry, left at 25-1 and finished third.

“Sweet Lou caught the toughest bunch of 3-year-olds in the last 15 years,” said Ron Burke. “It was a tough group. He caught the wrong trip and it didn’t work out. Maybe Lou wasn’t at the best that day. So what happens, happens. We’ve lost by a nose. We’ve lost by a lot and we won it with my dad as trainer.”

Two of the best 3-year-old pacers are not in the race: Wiggle It Jiggleit, a Mr Wiggles-Mozzi Hanover gelding, which is owned George Teague Jr. and trained by Clyde Francis; and Wakizashi Hanover, son of Dragon Again. The two competed in the Meadowlands Pace last week, passing on the Adios eliminations. Wiggle It Jiggleit won the 39th edition of the Meadowlands Pace in 1:47.4.

Wiggle It Jiggleit has nearly $1 million in earnings off 14 wins and one second-place finish in 15 starts this season. Wakizashi Hanover is second in earning with $639,902 and has six wins in 10 starts.

“I won’t name horses, but I can only pitch two horses out of the nine that I don’ think have much of a shot to win,” said Roger Huston, who will call his 40th Adios this week. “Other than that, I think it’s one of the most competitive fields we’ve ever had for the Adios. There are no standouts. The three (elimination) winners are not standouts. The horses that finished second and third have as good a shot (at winning the Adios) as the winners do.”

The Meadows will feature a special race Saturday to honor Roy D. Davis, who died June 16. Davis was a longtime Meadows-based horse owner and founder of “Team Spur.” The Roy D. Davis Invitational for 4-year-old pacers will offer a $50,000 purse. Davis and Hall of Fame trainer/driver Dick Stillings were the principals of Team Spur, which enjoyed uncommon success, including victories in the Little Brown Jug, the Adios, the Breeders Crown, the Cane Pace and the Yonkers Trot.