Odds On Mr Mamba, Al Papi victorious in Adios eliminations
Odds On Mr Mamba and Al Papi will lead the field in next Saturday’s $420,000 Grade 1 Delvin Miller Adios final, presented by 1ST/BET, at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows after they won their respective $25,000 eliminations for 3-year-old pacers on Saturday afternoon.
North America Cup champion Odds On Mr Mamba and driver James MacDonald won the first elimination on the front-end in 1:49.3. After showing speed from post six, the supplemental entrant cleared filly Loua Dipa (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) and Frantic Hanover (Tim Tetrick) before the 26.1 quarter went on the board. From there, Odds On Mr Mamba kept command to the half in 54.4 and the three-quarters in 1:22.1 as Loua Dipa waited in the two-hole until Wrenn Jr. guided her to the outside on the final bend.
Loua Dipa was unable to make headway on the pace-setter after she pulled, though, and although Frantic Hanover had a better kick from the three-hole, he couldn’t get by Odds On Mr Mamba, who held sway to win by a neck in a 1:49.3 mile. Treacherous Lou (Doug McNair) closed well after an inside trip to get past Loua Dipa for third at odds of 75-1. They were followed by Another C Note (Yannick Gingras), who would make the final as the fifth-place finisher from the two eliminations with the higher lifetime earnings.
A gelding by Odds On Equuleus, Odds On Mr Mamba is trained by Melanie Wrenn for owner Odds On Racing of Boca Raton, Florida. Bred by Odds On Nourrir, Odds On Mr Mamba has 11 wins and a third from 13 career starts, has earned $764,305 and paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favorite. He led a $19 exacta and a $199.20 trifecta.
Al Papi came up just a fifth of a second short of his sire Papi Rob Hanover’s track, stakes and world record with a 1:47 2/5 triumph for Gingras in the second elimination.
No Waitlist (Doug McNair), another supplemental entrant, shot through from post one to cut a crisp opening-half of 25.3 and 54.1, but Al Papi was flushed out of third just past the half by Sweet Lovin Lou (Scott Zeron). Once he was fed racetrack, Al Papi paced up to and around No Waitlist prior to the 1:20.3 three-quarters as Sweet Lovin Lou tracked Al Papi before he dropped into the pocket.
In the stretch Al Papi remained clear and his 26.4 final quarter slammed the door on a two length victory. Melillo (Wrenn Jr.), who got shuffled from the pocket after Al Papi took the lead, was able to move out to get by the tiring No Waitlist before he dropped back in on the far turn, then finished with interest to come in second over Sweet Lovin Lou. Toast Of The Town (MacDonald) was unable to keep up in the cover flow but did secure a berth in the final by finishing fourth.
Ron Burke, who will send out five horses in the final, sent out Al Papi for owners/breeders Burke Racing Stable LLC. of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby of Ocean Ridge, Florida, Larry Karr of Randolph, New Jersey, and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. of Canonsburg. From 19 lifetime tries, Al Papi has compiled a summary of 5-7-4, has banked $727,885 and returned $3.80 to win as the 4-5 favorite. He keyed a $6 exacta and a $14 trifecta.