Meadowlands: American In Paris aims for series sweep on Saturday

American In Paris has taken the Meadowlands by storm.

A 4-year-old female pacer, American In Paris is 6-for-6 this season, with all her victories coming at the Big M. Her two most recent triumphs were in the preliminary rounds of the Artistic Vision Series, which concludes Saturday with a $55,800 final.

American In Paris will start the final from post two with driver Jim Morrill Jr. at the lines for trainer/co-owner Ron Burke. Art Ideal, another Burke mare, leaves from post seven in the seven-horse field. She finished second in both her preliminary legs.

Saturday’s card also features the $63,000 Whata Baron Series final for male pacers. Captive Audience, who is unbeaten in three races this year, drew post three for trainer Corey Johnson. Wake Up Peter, who also won both his preliminary rounds, starts from post seven for trainer Larry Remmen.

American In Paris won five of six races as a 2-year-old, then won five of 16 last season at age 3. She was winless in her final six starts last season, but turned the corner this year with the addition of Lasix. She won the second round of the Artistic Vision Series in a career-best 1:50.

“She had a few issues last year,” said co-owner Mark Weaver. “This year, I think the key is we added Lasix; maybe we should have had her on it sooner.

“Earlier this year, she almost raced like a thoroughbred, with two or three weeks between starts. It’s hard to be in top condition when you do that, so I thought we still hadn’t seen the best of her. She’s pretty good. I’m not saying she could beat the top horses, but I’m not saying she couldn’t.”

American In Paris is a daughter of stallion American Ideal out of the mare Sendingforth. She was purchased originally for $4,000 at the Standardbred Horse Sale by Iowa’s Nolan Van Otterloo. She finished second in her first start and then won twice before being purchased by Burke, Weaver and Mike Bruscemi.

“We’ve bought horses from (the Van Otterloos) before and it’s been a good connection for us,” Weaver said. “They have a pretty good knack at buying some underpriced horses and usually at least one of them hits.”

Although Weaver thinks American In Paris might be able to compete against the division’s best, she probably will have few chances this year.

“She’s not staked, but she’s only (age) 4, so that might not be a bad thing,” Weaver said. “We usually don’t stake the 4-year-olds too heavily. We’ll probably pick our spots; there’s enough money to be made, hopefully, in some of the invitationals and opens.

“Depending how she does, we could shut her down a little early and may stake her up for her 5-year-old year.”

As for the immediate challenge of fending off six rivals in the Artistic Vision final, Weaver likes American In Paris’ chances. Other contenders include Josh Parker’s JK Letitgo, who has won seven of nine races this year, and Chris Ryder’s Road Bet, who won a preliminary leg in the series.

“She’s in a good spot,” Weaver said about American In Paris. “There are some pretty nice horses in there, but the way she’s been racing, I think she’ll be pretty tough to beat.”

-Courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, please visit www.ustrotting.com