Meadowlands: Sweet Lou goes out on top in TVG Final

Sweet Lou went out a winner. The Ron Burke trainee posted an ultra-impressive victory in the $500,000 TVG Final for older pacers at the Meadowlands on Saturday night and locked up year-end honors in his division.

Bettor’s Edge was fastest off the gate with an opening quarter of 26 2/5, but driver Ron Pierce quickly had Sweet Lou in high gear as they rushed to the front. The duo faced only token pressure from the first-over Foiled Again through middle fractions of 54 and 1:21 3/5 as Burke-trained horses occupied the top four positions by the three quarter marker.

In the stretch Sweet Lou kicked into another gear. The 5-year-old son of Yankee Cruiser opened up with ease and sprinted home in 26 2/5 to win in a sizzling 1:48 despite near freezing temperatures.

Foiled Again finished 3 3/4 lengths back in second while Clear Vision was third.

“He was better tonight than I’ve ever seen him,” said Pierce. “He’s such a pleasure to race; such a classy animal. These kinds of horses don’t come along all the time. I’m going to really miss him next year.”

Owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Larry Karr, and Phil Collura, Sweet Lou will call it a career with $3,478,894 in earnings and a 33 wins in 74 lifetime starts. He will stand stud at Diamond Creek Farm for a fee of $7,500.

“It was a very hard decision,” said co-owner Larry Karr on retiring Sweet Lou. “At the Burke operation we like to race, but this was the best opportunity for him to be a stallion.”

The winner returned $3.60 to win.