Field set for Adios eliminations

Jul 15, 2026 By John Sacco 5 min read

Trainer Melanie Wrenn said her horse Odds On Mr Mamba is “fresh and feeling great” as he begins his quest for The Adios championship this Saturday in one of two elimination races at Hollywood Casino The Meadows.

First post Saturday is 12:45 p.m.

With two horses supplementing into the race – Odds On Mr Mamba is one at $35,000 each, the Delvin Miller Pace for the Orchids – The Adios – will now have a winning purse of $420,000.

Odds On Mr Mamba – owned by Odds on Racing, Boca Raton, Fla., and driven by James MacDonald – skipped The Meadowlands Pace to refresh for the balance of the stakes season.

The North American Cup winner has won three of four races this season and won seven of eight in 2025 – a career mark of 10 wins in 12 starts (.833 winning percentage) and earnings of $751,805.

“I don’t think that we would have ultimately made the decision to supplement him in there if we didn’t think we had a very good chance to win,” said Melanie Wrenn, the wife Pete Wrenn, who has driven Odds On Mr Mamba and is the uncle of Ronnie Wrenn Jr., the driver for Loua Dipa.

“We opted out of the Meadowlands Pace. Truly, I think we did the best thing there. It’s kind of tough to say no to a race like that and I’m not saying we wouldn’t have got a big piece of the chances. I think he’d have been very competitive but what the do we have left?”

Odds On Mr Mamba, who will leave from post 6, will be joined in the first of two elimination races by filly Loua Dipa, who will leave from post 4. She is the first filly, and only the second overall, entered in The Adios since 1969.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Wrenn Jr. said. “I’m confident in her and her ability. This is her home track. It’s where she trains. She knows this track as good as any horse that’s going into the race. I would love a chance to make history. I know Mark Weaver and Ron Burke and all the other owners are looking forward to it, but obviously, it’s not going to be easy. It’s never easy; no matter what.

“Odds on Mr Mamba should be talked about. He’s a great horse. He’s back and he’s sharp and ready to go. It’s going to be a good race. But the other field of six horses in the race are nice ones, too. It’s anyone’s race to win.”

The other horses in the field are Frantic Hanover, Treacherous Lou, Another C Note, Stingman and Apocalypsebluechip.

Loua Dipa, Frantic Hanover and Another C Note are trained by Ron Burke and hail from the Burke Stable, Fredericktown.

In the second division, from the pole out are No Waitlist, who was supplemented in, Southwind Spencer, Al Papi, Thai Hanover, Melillo, Toast of the Town, Easy Breeze and Sweet Lovin Lou.

Al Papi and Melillo are Burke Stable entrants. Other local connections include Dave Palone driving Stingman for owner Jack B. Piatt III. Rick Hercules is the trainer. Jeremy Indoff will drive Thai Hanover, who is owned and trained by Mitchell York. Veteran horseman Doug Snyder trains Southwind Spencer.

Clearly, all eyes are on Odds on Mr Mamba and Loua Dipa.

The eliminations are races 6 and 7.

Track announcer Jeff Zidek set morning line odds for the first elimination race with Lou Dipa as a 5-2 favorite with odds on Mr Mamba at 7-2. Following the two favorites are Another C Note at 4-1, Frantic Hanover (Tim Tetrick) at 5-1, Stingman at 6-1, and Treacherous Lou (trainer Robert Clearly) and Apocalypsebluechip (Joe Bongiorno) at 8-1.

Al Papi (Yannick Gingras) is the favorite at 2-1 followed by Melillo (Wrenn Jr.) at 4-1, Sweet Lovin Lou (Scott Zeron) at 9-2, No Waitlist (Doug McNair) at 6-1, Thai Hanover and Toast of the Town, both at 8-1, and Southwind Spencer (Todd McCarthy) and Easy Breeze (Andrew McCarthy) at 10-1.

The top four finishers in each $25,000 elimination race will advance to The Adios final (July 25), along with the fifth-place finisher with the highest career earnings. Post time for The Adios card is 11:30 a.m.

Local connections

Here’s what some of the other local connections had to say Wednesday after the field was revealed.

• Piatt III on his first Adios entrant Stingman:

“Over the years, (the Piatts) had a couple elimination winners. But of the horses that I take care of on a day-to-day basis. This is the first one in The Adios. It’s super exciting. A lot of fun.”

• Indoff gets his first Adios drive and the Belle Vernon resident is confident in Thai Hanover.

“I’m just hoping we can get a good landing spot off the gate and see if we can get into the final somehow. I think he’s more than capable. Being a local kid, you always want to do it (drive in The Adios) a least once.”

• It’s been more than three decades since Doug Snyder has had a horse entered in The Adios but that streak ends Saturday when Southwind Spencer takes the track.

“He was a nice 2-year-old,” Snyder said. “He didn’t get a lot of respect. I had trouble keeping a driver on him, hard to get same driver two weeks in a row. They loved him but it wasn’t easy to get them consistently. This is a nice horse. He just hasn’t had the opportunity.”