In addition to his five Adios horses going to the gate on Saturday, trainer Mickey Burke – who’s celebrating his 70th birthday today [Aug. 11] – has a trio of well-intentioned fillies in the Adioo Volo.
Western Ideal daughter Ideal Weather is the 3-1 choice from post five in the sixth race with Dave Palone driving for owners Sylvia Burke, Lawrence Karr and Thomas Cherichello. She’s won four of 11 this year, and needs less than $1,000 to top $300,000 in lifetime earnings. She took her mark of 1:52.1 in a five-length romp at The Meadows last weekend.
“I just turned down a good offer for her,” said Burke. “But I truly believe she’s going to be a Burning Point or Loyal Opposition – she’s that kind of mare. She won under wraps last week. She’s sound, and once she gets to the front end, she’s not going to let anybody go by. She’s that game.”
Burke said he’s excited about seeing what kind of effort Taxi Hanover puts out in the fourth race. The Western Hanover daughter [post two with David Miller] is 20-1 and has only $13,967 earned this year, but she had a solid season at two, earning $85,097.
“She’s always roared [caused by a breathing obstruction] but never during a race – just when she pulled up,” said Burke. “We did throat surgery on her before she raced at two, and after her season sent her right to have a different kind of surgery. We thought that might help her even more.
“But this year, she hadn’t really improved,” he said. “I could only think of one other thing that would impact her breathing, and that was [the neurological disease] EPM. We put her on EPM medicine, and she’s a different horse. [Son] Ronnie trained her the other day, and couldn’t believe it. He made me see it for myself, and she’s never trained like this before.”
The third Burke trainee in the Adioo Volo is Blissfull Hall daughter Leavea Smile, who is leased by Hutt Racing Stable of Paoli, PA. She has post two and Ron Pierce in the eighth race. She shows a slate of 2-2-2 from 10 starts this year. “We just got her this year,” said Burke. “She’s a nice filly, and has a legitimate shot of getting a piece of it.”
PLENTY OF FAMILY & FUN ACTIVITIES ON TAP
In addition to stakes action aplenty at The Meadows tonight [Friday] and tomorrow afternoon for Adios Day, there is a plethora of activities for families and adults as a part of the Adios Week celebration.
Tonight in the Party Tent, Pittsburgh’s hottest rhythm and blues band No Bad Ju Ju plays beginning at 7 p.m. The Party Tent also features a pig roast, Tiki Bar, exotic drink specials and dancers. The Party Tent starts up after racing on Adios Day, opening at 6 p.m., with Pittsburgh’s newest 70s and 80s disco, funk and dance band Dancing Queen playing starting at 7 p.m. Patrons must be 21 to enter the Party Tent.
Friday night and Saturday afternoon both feature plenty of free family activities, including pony rides, a caricature artist, balloon art, face painting and more.
The first 300 patrons to purchase a racing program on-site Friday night and Saturday get a free Pennsylvania Lottery Scratch-Off ticket, and Friday night is the popular Adios hat giveaway. Register both days as well to win a Las Vegas getaway for a four night/five day trip to the Cannery Casinos.
Parking, admission and all activities are free. |
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