Artist passes HoP for Levy

Although trainer Ronnie Burke of the Mickey Burke Stable had considered sending Battle of Lake Erie winner Maltese Artist to Hoosier Park for Saturday’s Dan Patch, he decided it best to send the new world champion back to Yonkers for the fifth leg of the George Morton Levy Series that same night.

Maltese Artist’s Cleveland start last Saturday—in which he set a world record for older gelding pacers on a half-mile track with his 1:49.4 win in the Battle--forced him to miss the fourth leg of the Levy Series, where he already has two wins and a second in the opening three rounds. Although Maltese Artist currently stands tied for third in the point standings with two legs to go before the final, because of the closeness of the standings and the competitiveness, Burke said he made the decision to bring the horse back to New York.

“I need the points. I would have really loved to go to the Dan Patch (at Hoosier Park that night), but the Levy final is too big to pass up,” said Burke. “You miss legs and it kills you there. I’ll go back to New York and hopefully race him this week and I would like to know I’d have it clinched so I could give him a week off. If not, he’s going to have to buck up and race hard for a couple weeks, and then I’ll give him a couple weeks off.”

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