Burke Brigade aims for trio in Borgata final
At 0h06, on April 12, 2021 • By YONKERS
With two horses already guaranteed spots in the final of the MGM Borgata Series for older male pacers, trainer Ron Burke will look to add a third on Monday (April 12) when Yonkers Raceway hosts the last preliminary round of the six-week event.
Based on points accumulated in the series, the Burke Brigade’s Rockapelo and This Is The Plan are among five horses to have already secured places in the eight-horse final on April 19. The others are Western Joe, Hesa Kingslayer N, and Leonidas A.
Burke’s Backstreet Shadow is in the best position to join that group, pending the outcomes in Monday’s last preliminary divisions of the series. Backstreet Shadow, sixth in points, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the first of the last three Borgata splits, starting from post one.
The six-horse field also includes four of the five horses directly behind Backstreet Shadow in the standings: San Domino A and Lyons Steel, who are tied for seventh, ninth-place Raukapuka Ruler N and 11th-place Tyga Hanover. The remaining horse in the field is series leader Western Joe.
Other horses that could bolster their chances of making the final with wins on Monday are Mach N Cheese and Mac’s Jackpot, who are both in the second division, and Ostro Hanover, who is in the third. None are morning-line favorites.
Backstreet Shadow has a win and two seconds in the Borgata. A trainer can start only one horse in a division, and Burke has four horses in the series, so Backstreet Shadow sat out last week’s leg after coming up sick in his second-place finish on March 29.
“He had a legitimate excuse his last start,” said Mark Weaver, who is among the owners of Backstreet Shadow, as well as Rockapelo and This Is The Plan. “We had to give someone the week off, so it just made sense for it to be him. We expect him to be pretty good this start and then hopefully even better in the final.”
Backstreet Shadow, a 6-year-old gelding, has won 25 of 63 career races and $890,162. Last year, he won the Roll With Joe Stakes and hit the board in the Breeders Crown, TVG Open Pace Series championship, Sam McKee Memorial, and Allerage Farms Open Pace.
“I think Backstreet Shadow and This Is The Plan are two of the top five or six aged pacers,” Weaver said. “They’ve been factors the last several years. Hopefully, they are again, all season long. This is just the start of a long year, hopefully, for them.”
This Is The Plan, a 6-year-old gelding with $1.8 million in career purses, has a win and three seconds in the Borgata. He is the 2-1 second choice in Monday’s third division.
