Meadowlands: Rodeo Drive Deo lassoes Kindergarten Series title

Rodeo Drive Deo, coming off a third-place finish in her Breeders Crown, rallied off cover to a 1:50 3/5 victory in the $165,000 Kindergarten Series final for 2-year-old filly pacers on Saturday night at the Meadowlands.

Shes A Streaker (Yannick Gingras) left out best from post five, but Duration (Todd McCarthy) came out of the pocket before the 27 3/5 quarter and would take charge past that marker. Champagne Room (Andy McCarthy) then pulled out of the fourth spot, and she would make her way to the point on the way to the 54 3/5 half as Chakra (Anibal Borjas) got going first-up out of third. Shes A Streaker, who got shuffled, managed to squeeze to the outside ahead of Rodeo Drive Deo (David Miller), putting her in a third-over position and Simply Perfect (Dexter Dunn) fourth-over.

Champagne Room maintained control around the last turn and to three-quarters in 1:22 2/5 as Chakra stalled out, but the closers got activated in the stretch, as Rodeo Drive Deo swept into the lead inside the final eighth. From there, Rodeo Drive Deo pulled clear to the wire to prevail by two lengths. Simply Perfect also closed with pace and got up for second from Duration. Ronstadt (Scott Zeron) and Champagne Room were fourth and fifth, respectively.

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"I think that she's got the speed and she's got the physical ability to become a great 3-year-old, and that's what I'm looking for," winning co-owner Jerry Silva said after the race.

Rodeo Drive Deo, who is by Captaintreacherous and is trained by Ron Burke, competes for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC., Weaver Bruscemi LLC., Beasty LLC. and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby. Bred by Deo Volente Farms and Cool Cat Racing, Rodeo Drive Deo has four victories and three seconds and a third from ten efforts, has pocketed $315,107 and paid $3.20 to win as the favorite.