Burke sweeps features at Northfield Park

Northfield, OH — Tequila Talkin (Cantab Hall) continued to reign supreme on Sunday (Apr. 2) at MGM Northfield Park, winning the $19,000 Open harness racing Trot for the second straight week.

Winning Shadow (Chris Lems) left alertly from post two and worked his way around inside speed through the first turn. That move left Tequila Talkin (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) parked through much of the first quarter, but the favorite finally cleared the lead at the quarter in :28.4.

Into the far turn for the first time, the two leaders created separation from the others in the field, and coming to the half in :57.1; there was no change in position as Wrenn was able to work out a breather with the favorite.

Don’t Take My Keys (Ryan Stahl) was the first to make a move on the leaders into the clubhouse turn for the final time. With the outer flow not developing, Tequila Talkin continued getting things his way at three-quarters in 1:25.3.  

Through the stretch, Eye Ofa Tiger As (Billy Davis Jr.) tipped three-wide to take his shot at the leader, but they would come up three-quarters of a length short, with Tequila Talkin winning in 1:54.2. Winning shadow dug in for third, with Gold Stones (Aaron Merriman) finishing fourth.

TEQUILA TALKIN REPLAY

It was the 39th career victory for the son of Cantab Hall, who has now won two of three starts this year. He has earned $393,317 for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, and trainer Ron Burke.  

Burke would repeat in the $19,000 Open later in the evening as Saulsbrook Genesis (Sunshine Beach) (Wrenn Jr.) avenged his defeat over Bernie from last week, scoring a game victory in 1:50.2

Speedy Dominic A (Aaron Merriman) got the jump on the field through the first turn. Still, Merriman would have to deal with last week’s winner, Bernie (Ryan Stahl), who was able to work his way past the leader at the quarter in :26.4. Stahl was able to get a little bit of a breather with Bernie, who lead the field to the half in :55, but that is when things began to heat up.

Saulsbrook Genesis pulled at the half and began to make his move; into the backstretch, he and Bernie got to three-quarters in 1:22.4. Matching strides through most of the final quarter, Saulsbrook Genesis finally worked his way past Bernie in the final strides to win by a half-length.

SAULSBROOK GENESIS REPLAY

Owned by the No Recall Stable of Strongsville, OH, the son of Sunshine Beach has earned $174,118 in 45 lifetime starts; it was the fourth victory of the season for the talented gelding.

Live racing resumes on Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. MGM Northfield Park currently races on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

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For complete race results, click here.

by Michael Carter, for MGM Northfield Park