WASHINGTON, PA — On paper, North America Cup winner Pebble Beach and Meadowlands Pace champion Beach Glass looked many lengths better than the rest of the field in Saturday’s $350,000 final of the Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids at The Meadows. Bythemissal reminded everyone that a premier test for 3-year-old pacers is not contested on paper. The local gelding moved powerfully first over to defeat Beach Glass by 1-1/4 lengths, springing an 8-1 odds upset for driver Chris Page and trainer Ron Burke. Bythemissal had lost only once in his six-race career, but it was that 5-3/4-length pasting by Pebble Beach in last week’s Adios eliminations that sent bettors looking elsewhere. Page indicated that race served as a sort of an introduction to top-level competition for Bythemissal. “Last week was the prep race,” said Page, in only his second Adios. “I was really confident in how he came out of the race and how he finished. Ronnie said he had a great week this week, so I just needed to make sure I kept him out of trouble. I got him in play a little bit but away from the 53.4 half.”
“We wanted to race him a little more aggressively, but it didn’t work out,” Burke said. “But you don’t make the move he made last week to finish second and not be good. You can’t be three deep and make up ground against real good horses. Chris had him double wrapped up at the wire. Chris is never confident, and he was supremely confident with this horse. At the half today, I thought, if Chris can get wheeled up by the three-quarters, it’ll be on. My horse has the will to win. You get him close, he’s gonna get ya.”
It’s the second blanket of orchids for Burke, whose massive stable is based at The Meadows, as he also prevailed with Dorsoduro Hanover–still active and a double millionaire. He also was assistant trainer for his father Mickey when the elder Burke won the Adios with May June Character–the final win of that horse’s career.
ADIOS NOTES: Handle for the 16-race Adios Day card surged to $1,294,602, highest total in recent memory. Bythemissal’s time matched the track record for geldings established by Alsace Hanover.