The first round of American-National Stakes at Balmoral Park outside Chicago gets underway this weekend with races for three-year-old male and female trotters
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Hambletonian second runner-up Wishing Stone, who has $250,389 on his card this year and has yet to win a race in seven starts, heads a field of 10 going for the $150,000 purse in the race for three-year-old male trotters. Dave Magee is listed to drive Wishing Stone, who will get his seventh different driver this year. He is trained by Michigan native Dewayne Minor.
Mystery Photo, who was sixth in the Hambletonian, also is part of the field. He has won three of 12 races and earned $161,801 for trainer Julie Miller and driver Andy Miller.
The American-National field in post position order with drivers and trainers is:
1. Big Sky Revenue, Dale Hiteman, Mark Fransen
2. Thro Time, Dave Magee, D.R. Ackerman
3. Coco Lindy, Frank Antonacci, Frank Antonacci
4. Great Emancipator, Brad Kramer, D.R. Ackerman
5. Mystery Photo, Andy Miller, Julie Miller
6. Wishing Stone, Dave Magee, Dewayne Minor
7. Run And Tell Pap, Michael Cox, Leo Grummel
8. Premier Hanover, TBA, Brett Wilfong
9. Powerful Speed, Todd Warren, Thomas Graham Jr.
10. Sailaway Dream, Dave Magee, Anette Lorentzon
On the fillies side, four of the top five finishers in the $750,000 Hambletonian Oaks are going west to compete in the $131,500 American-National. Only the first of those five finishers, Bar Slide, will be absent this weekend.
Oaks runner-up Ultimate Cameron got the rail with Trace Tetrick driving for trainer Bob Stewart.
The rest of the field is as follows:
1. Ultimate Cameron, Trace Tetrick, Bob Stewart
2. Glide Power, Jan Johnson, Jan Johnson
3. Springtime Volo (third in the Oaks), Dave Magee, Jan Johnson
4. Bramalea Hanover (fifth in the Oaks), Dave Magee, Robert McIntosh
5. Behindclosedoors, Michael Oosting, Chuck Sylvester
6. Cantab It All, Marcus Johansson, Jimmy Takter
7. Secret Magic Todd Warren, Ron Gurfein
8. Jesses Messenger, Ryan Stahl, Kent Sherman
9. Levis Lady, Dewayne Minor, Dewayne Minor
10. ActionBroadway, Brett Miller, Virgil Morgan Jr.
Glide Power was second, beaten by a neck by Christiana Hanover, in the $221,500 Moni Maker Stakes at the Red Mile on August 19. Bramalea Hanover was third while Behindclosedoors was fifth, Springtime Volo was sixth, Cantab It All was seventh, Ultimate Cameron was eighth, and Jesses Messenger was ninth in the 12-filly field.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.