The Meadows: Grade 1 Delvin Miller Adios won by Al Papi

Al Papi led a sweep of the exacta for trainer Ron Burke in the Grade 1 $420,500 Delvin Miller Adios, presented by 1ST/BET, for 3-year-old male pacers on Saturday afternoon at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. Driven by Yannick Gingras in the 60th edition of the Delvin Miller Adios, Al Papi won on the front-end in 1:48 1/5, defeating stablemate Melillo.

Starting from post four off a 1:47 2/5 win in his elimination a week ago, Al Papi blasted out and cleared another Burke Brigade member in Frantic Hanover (Tim Tetrick) well before the 26 3/5 quarter. North America Cup champion Odds On Mr Mamba (James MacDonald) lined up third, followed by Burke-trained Melillo (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.), who was able to slide down from post nine.

At the half-mile marker, which was posted in 54 2/5, Al Papi was still on top, but behind him a two-wide Sweet Lovin Lou (Scott Zeron) was trying to flush Melillo, who in turn was trying to get Odds On Mr Mamba to pull, which he did past that station. Al Papi was strong on the front-end, though, and Odds On Mr Mamba was only able to advance up to Gingras' wheel as they raced on the backstretch for the final time.

It looked like Al Papi was heading for a romping win going to three-quarters in 1:20 2/5 as he got separation on Odds On Mr Mamba and Frantic Hanover in the pocket, but he got rough-gaited for a bit on the final turn, which allowed the competition to get back into the race. Despite losing his momentum, Al Papi responded when asked by Gingras and wouldn't let anybody go by, defeating the rallying Melillo by a head. Odds On Mr Mamba was a game third off the uncovered trip, followed by Frantic Hanover and Sweet Lovin Lou.

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"In the middle of the last turn, honestly I thought I was going to win by ten lengths. That's how he felt," Gingras said. "He was so strong and I had the plugs in. I was still just letting him rock, and he just got a little bumpy on me for a couple of strides. Once he gathered himself up, I couldn't get him going again. He just kind of lost his focus. Thankfully we still came out on top."

This was the third win in the Delvin Miller Adios for both Gingras and Burke, but the first time they had teamed up to capture it.

"I've won it a few times, but never for the Burke Brigade. I know this race means the world to the Burke Brigade, so it's probably the most special one," Gingras remarked.

A Papi Rob Hanover colt, Al Papi is a homebred for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC. of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby of Ocean Ridge, Florida, Larry Karr of Boca Raton, Florida, and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Al Papi has compiled a summary of 6-7-4 from 20 starts, has earned $938,135 and paid $3.80 to win as the 4-5 favorite. He led a $19.60 exacta and a $75.80 trifecta.

"Every time it's even better than the last time. Being 1-2 is something my dad had done before," offered Burke, who sent out five horses in the Delvin Miller Adios final for the second straight year. "I'm proud to try to imitate things he had done. We're very happy. The horses raced great and Yannick drove a great race.

"Once we got everybody seated and we had one parked on the outside, I was pretty sure we were in the right spots to get where we wanted. Then on the last turn it got a little bunched up and I was like 'uh oh, this could be trouble.' My horses were surging at the wire, so I was happy. I thought they hung on, but you hate to come over here and find out you were second."