Sweet Lou leads Meadowlands Pace entries

Jul 10, 2012 - 6:25 PM East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - Elimination winners Sweet Lou and Heston Blue Chip top the field for Saturday's $600,000 Meadowlands Pace at Meadowlands Racetrack. Ten three-year-old pacers will contest the one mile race.

Sweet Lou and Heston Blue Chip won last Saturday's pair of $50,000 elimination races to decide the field for the Meadowlands Pace. The connections of the two winners got to choose their posts for the final.

Trained by co-owner Ron Burke, Sweet Lou is the 5-2 morning line favorite and will start from post four with all-time leading driver Dave Palone. Palone became the winningest driver in North American harness racing history on Thursday, July 5 at The Meadows with career victory 15,181, going past Hall of Fame driver Herve Filion.

Last week Sweet Lou held off a late surge by A Rocknroll Dance to capture the first elimination by a neck in 1:49 1/5. Last year's champion two-year-old has 14 wins in 17 career races and this year has banked $266,728 in five starts with four wins.

"I thought he was okay," Palone said after the elimination. "I'm not sure that I raced him how I wanted to race him. I know this colt wasn't at his best tonight and I know Ronnie [Burke] will have him at his best next week."

Heston Blue Chip is the 7-2 second choice and will break from post three with Tim Tetrick driving. Owned by Kenneth Jacobs, Heston Blue Chip held on for a career best 1:49 victory in the second elimination. He defeated North America Cup winner Thinking Out Loud by a head with Pet Rock another head back.

"I've won a lot of races, but this is one I haven't won and I'd really like to win this one," Jacobs said. "I know we have to beat Sweet Lou and the other eight horses, but I think we're up to the task."

Trained by Linda Toscano, the colt is perfect in five starts this season for $172,393 and has just two losses in 18 career races with earnings of nearly $550,000.

Here is the complete field for the Pace in post position order: A Rocknroll Dance, Yannick Gingras, 4-1; Pet Rock, Brian Sears, 12-1; Heston Blue Chip, Tim Tetrick, 7-2; Sweet Lou, Dave Palone, 5-2; Bolt The Duer, Mark MacDonald, 6-1; Simply Business, Ron Pierce, 15-1; Thinking Out Loud, Randy Waples, 5-1; State Treasurer, David Miller, 20-1; Time To Roll, Andy Miller, 12-1 and Allstar Legend, Jim Morrill Jr., 20-1.

Post-time for the Pace is scheduled for 10:15 p.m. (ET).