The Meadows: Southwind Ozzi routs rivals in Delvin Miller Adios

Southwind Ozzi was sensational on Saturday afternoon in the 53rd Delvin Miller Adios for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers at The Meadows, rolling into the lead in the backstretch and drawing off to a dominating 1:48 victory in the $400,000 "Pace for the Orchids."

Driver Brian Sears settled into the fourth spot with the Bill MacKenzie-trained Southwind Ozzi and watched a three-wide duel between Prince Of Tides (Dave Palone), Captain Victorious (Yannick Gingras), and Escapetothebeach (Tim Tetrick) on the first turn. Escapetothbeach was the first to relent, dropping back into the three-hole, with Prince Of Tides going into the pocket and Captain Victorious to the top at the 25 3/5 opening quarter.

Prince Of Tides wanted nothing to do with the pocket, though, pulling out of that position and moving to the front as they raced in front of the stands for the first time. Meanwhile, Southwind Ozzi closed in after sitting back off that initial early scrum, and he was right with the top three when Sears fired him first-over at the 53 3/5 half-mile marker.

When Sears showed Southwind Ozzi the clear air, the response was immediate, as he surged with every stride toward Prince Of Tides, and he would overwhelm and overtake him passing the 1:20 three-quarters. The only questions from there were the final time and the margin of victory as Southwind Ozzi poured it on, opening up to win by seven lengths and just falling short of the track record by a fifth of a second. Prince Of Tides held second over Stag Party (Dexter Dunn), with Wild Wild Western (Mike Wilder) fourth and Escapetothebeach fifth.

"I was glad to see them mix it up a little bit in the first quarter. It was hot enough that they couldn't shut down the second quarter that much," remarked Sears. "My horse raced great and Billy's done a great job with him. He's had some time off, and to come back this sharp is a real credit to Bill. He's a great horse, he's a pleasure to drive, and he makes my job easy.

"I felt good about my horse. He's raced first-up a couple of other times, and he doesn't mind it. I was just trying to rate him a little bit, but he was raring to go when I did pull him."

MacKenzie trains Southwind Ozzi, who is now a ridgling after recent hernia surgery, for owners Vincent Ali Jr. and Alma Iafelice. The first ridgling to capture the Adios, Southwind Ozzi has a record of 6-5-0 from 13 starts, including a perfect three-for-three mark at The Meadows, and he has now earned $326,249. The 4-5 favorite, Southwind Ozzi paid $3.60 to win.