The fans at Hollywood Casino at the Meadows held their breath as Al Papi (Papi Rob Hanover-Baron Remy) crossed the finish line to a scorching 1:49.2 world record for 2-year-old pacing colts on a 5/8 mile track on August 21 in the first division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes. The colt is trained by Ron Burke and owned by Burke Racing Stable, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby, Larry Karr and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
With fractions of :27, :55.4, and a 53.3 back half, Al Papi, driven by Yannick Gingras, hit the wire a length in front of Toast Of The Town, and the crowd erupted in cheers as announcer Jeff Zidek declared the final time a world record.
“We liked him all along since he trained down in Florida,” said owner Mark Weaver. “He’s been really impressive and been brought along the right way, and he’s showing now what he hoped he can be.”
The colt is a homebred, and the mare is owned by the group. “We bought Baron Remy as a yearling, raced her, she made $600,000 for us, and we kept her and bred her. Al Papi is her second foal, and we’re thrilled with how its worked out so far.”
It was Papi Rob Hanover as the sire for this breeding, and not a familiar sire. “We’re big Sweet Lou supporters,” Mark explained, “but this mare couldn’t be bred to Sweet Lou, so we had to go a different line, and that’s why we picked Papi Rob.”
Most of their horses train at their farm in northern Florida, but Al Papi trained in southern Florida. “It was the first time we had 2-year-olds down there, and we had 10. He stood out down there, but we weren’t quite sure, because it was our first time there. We didn’t know how to compare him to previous years. But he did show that he was good, and even in qualifiers and the first few races, he was doing everything that we had asked. And it looks like he’s finally putting it all together.”
Next stop is the PA Sire Stakes Finals (September 5, Harrah’s Philadelphia), and I believe the plan is to go to the Metro Pace (Woodbine Mohawk Park, September 20). He and Frantic Hanover, who is undefeated, will go to the Metro in Canada, and then go from there.”
After that, Mark and the connections are taking their time mapping out his future races. “I hate to look too far ahead especially with 2-year-olds, but both horses may have Lexington (Red Mile). I don’t know if we will go down there yet. I’m sure he and Frantic Hanover will both have the Breeders Crown (Woodbine Mohawk Park, October 24-25). If they are still going good, the Breeders Crown would be the end of the season.”
Driver Yannick Gingras was excited with the tremendous race on August 21, and the record was icing on the cake. “The world record is nice, but I’m never really worried about that stuff. I’d like to see him win big races vs. fast races. I actually didn’t feel like we were going that fast, to be quite honest. But I’m just really happy that he’s coming into the PA Sire Stakes Finals, and then the Metro after this. This is just the beginning of big races for him. We will just try to keep him on track, and have him peaking at the right time.”
Yannick echoes Mark’s thoughts on looking ahead to future races. “It’s one week at a time with these 2-year-olds. Most of them so far have been raced accordingly, and the same thing for us, nobody has really gotten ‘deep to the wells’ just yet. We’re trying to teach them how to race, and trying to have them finishing strong. You don’t know when any 2-year-old is going to get tired, or which one is going to dig in, and also, which one is going to come back the next week and be able to put it out there.”
“He (Al Papi) hasn’t been tired yet!” Yannick laughed. “He’s got all the abilities in the world! As for the next level, certain ones have it, and certain ones don’t. We will find out soon enough!!”
With several big races still on the horizon this season for the youngster, the buzz on Al Papi continues to grow, as his confidence and ability grows, and the Burke Brigade are enjoying every minute of this thrilling ride.
