Hawthorne puts on eventful day
Saturday’s Illinois Festival of Racing at Hawthorne Race
Course drew full fields as the six-contest afternoon for Illinois breds produced many exciting finishes and multiple beaten
favorites.
Lamont Nienast LLC’s SYNCO PEACH (Whadjathink) dueled with
Jaguar City (Slew City Slew) through a
quick :22 3/5 opening quarter in the $101,700 Powerless
H., a six-furlong sprint
contested by six fillies and mares. The four-year-old then drew
away from her rival, getting the half in :46 2/5, five-eighths in
:58, and stopping the clock in 1:11 for the fast track affair, 2
1/2-lengths ahead. Piloted by Larry Sterling Jr., the bay
returned $6.60, $3.20, and $2.80, keying a $17.40 exacta. Jaguar
City, the post-time favorite held on gamely for second, giving
back $3 and $2.80. Fighting Fever (Fit to Fight) was third,
paying $4.20 and finishing off a $87.40 trifecta.
This was the first stakes win for the Percy Scherbenske
trainee, who improved her mark to 11-7-1-1 to go along with
earnings of $221,400.
In the $100,875 Lightning Jet
H., Terry Renfrow and Eugene
Young’s SILVER BID (Buckbean) was vindicated after finishing
second in this contest last year. Sent off as the 2-1 favorite,
the six-year-old stalked the pace from off the rail under Carlos
Montalvo before taking over in the stretch and holding on for the
1 1/4-length win. The gray drilled the teletimer at
1:10 2/5 for the six-furlong affair and improved her overall mark
for conditioner Joel Berndt to 40-15-11-5 and earnings of $586,301.
Bob and Nancy Bartels’ BLUESBDANCING (Golden Gear) gave
Montalvo his second stakes win of the day when the juvenile miss
took the $97,400 Showtime Deb S. after heavy favorite Toll Taker
(Bernstein) stumbled at the start and unseated her rider. Just a
head back at the first call, Montalvo and his mount took the lead
and was3 1/4-lengths clear at the wire to stop the clock in 1:12 1/5
for the six furlongs. Now undefeated in three starts, the Terrel
Gore trainee moved her earnings to $93,840.
Sterling was the leading rider for the Festival with three wins, with his second coming in the $90,225
Sun
Power S. aboard Ron Armstrong & John Wallace’s HUMOR AT LAST (Distorted Humor).
Dueling with post-time favorite Stormy Afternoon (Afternoon
Deelites), the gray drew away in the stretch to take the six
furlong affair by 2 1/4-lengths in 1:11 3/5. The
Anthony Mitchell-trained juvenile pushed his record
to two wins from two starts with earnings of $69,735.
In the $99,000 Illini
Princess, Richard Rudolph and Michael
Vranich’s CASHMERE MISS (Kokand) pulled off the upset of the day
when Carlos Silva piloted the four-year-old home at 13-1.
Rewarding her backers with $29.20, the chestnut miss recorded a
time of 1:46 for the 1 1/16-mile contest while winning by 2 1/4
lengths. Trained by Spanky Broussard, she owns a record of 28-6-5-8
to match earnings of $290,613.
Russell L. Reineman Stable, Inc.’s HOME OF STARS (Home at Last)
gave Sterling his third win of the day when the two were first
under the wire in the $96,275 High Alexander H. Conditioned by Frank
Springer, the four-year-old gelding stopped the clock in 1:45 1/5 for the
8 1/2-furlong event, 1 3/4-lengths ahead of
his nearest rival. The gray improved his mark to 15-5-3-3 and
has earned $192,126.