Illinois’ standardbred racing industry will be handing out awards to the top Illinois-conceived and foaled harness horses for 2013 in their respective divisions.

The Daily Journal has offered predictions on divisional winners. The predictions on the awards are as follows.

PQ THREE
Two-Year-Old Colt Pacer
Record: 6-4-0 from 11 starts.
Money Won: $111,899
Trainer: Erv Miller
Driver: Mike Oosting
Owners: Obermeier and Quaid Stables.

Purchased for only $11,000 at the 2012 Walker Standardbred Sale, the son of Yankee Skyscaper went on to make 10 times his sale price in his first racing season. He captured both the $45,000 Springfield title, where he paced his career fastest time of 1:50, and the $43,000 Du Quoin State Fair championship. Earlier, he won the $63,500 Mini Me final at Balmoral Park and took second in its $46,100 Hanover Stake for open-company pacing freshmen.

THESLEAZYPRINCESS
Two-Year-Old Filly Pacer
Record: 3-3-6 from 14 starts
Money Won: $159,615
Trainer: Nelson Willis
Driver: Mike Oosting
Owner: Marty Engle Stable of Illinois

Bred by her Buffalo Grove owner, the daughter of Sagebrush edged out her stablemate Molly Go Lightly, the Violet champion; and the Miller stable's My Little Bit, queen of both state fair championships, for the top honours based on her consistency and her knack for winning the major stakes. Thesleazyprincess by far earned the most money in the division. The filly finished third or better in 12 of 14 outings and posted wins in Balmoral's $65,000 Loyal Opposition final and Super Night's $200,000 Orange and Blue Filly final. She was third at Springfield and second in Du Quoin's $33,000 Directors Award.

PHOTO SURPRISE
Two-Year-Old Colt Trotter
Record: 4-1-0 from 9 starts
Money Won: $96,825
Driver: Mike Oosting
Trainer: Nelson Willis
Owner: Jerry Graham

The son of Powerful Emotion didn't make his first career start until the middle of August and dropped his first four races. The late bloomer then put it together at the right time, first taking the $105,000 Lincoln Land, the No. 1 stakes event in his division, and then following with victories in a $46,700 Hanover and the $42,200 Cardinal final. "I think Photo Surprise has a chance to be a real good three-year-old trotter in Illinois next season," says his Beecher trainer, Nelson Willis.

BAILEYS WISH
Two-Year-Old Filly Trotter
Record: 5-3-2 from 14 starts
Money Won: $112,710
Driver: Dave Magee
Trainer: Dirk Simpson
Owners: Jim Bafia and Gene White.

The Southwind Breeze filly was still looking for her maiden win in early September after finishing second in the $50,000 Fox Valley Flan Championship and the Springfield State Fair final. However, as the weather got cooler, the filly got hotter. In early October she took the division's richest plum, the $105,000 Lady Lincoln Land final and later in the month came away with the $42,500 Violet trophy, both on Balmoral's one-mile track. Baileys Wish sold for $14,500 as a yearling under the name Maria Kay.

MYSTICAL WALTER
Three-Year-Old Colt Pacer
Record: 8-3-4 from 21 starts
Money Won: $195,259
Trainer: Erv Miller
Driver: Casey Leonard
Owner: Paymaq Racing, D & M Trading and Mystical Marker Farms.

Another son of Yankee Skyscaper conditioned by Erv Miller, this late-charging pacer took most of the major championships in his division, including the $173,000 Pete Langley Memorial on Super Night, both the state fair crowns at Springfield and Du Quoin and a $30,000 Hanover at Balmoral in mid-July, where he paced his fastest mile of 1:50 flat. The gelding was also the runner-up in the $115,000 Maywood Park Pace final.

AUNIQUEAQUISTION
Three-Year-Old Filly Pacer
Record: 11-2-0 from 18 starts
Money Won: $249,235
Trainer: Donna Lee Ozment; Erin Elliott as of 10/24/13
Driver: Mike Oosting
Owners: John Carver and Dandy Farms

The filly was much the best in her division with her biggest accomplishments coming with wins in the $22,000 Maywood Park Filly Pace final and Balmoral's $60,000 Ann Vonian and $174,000 Grandma Ann Championships. The daughter of Cole Muffler is out of the very successful broodmare Shessoluvable, making her a full sister to such former ICF champions as Enzo The Baker and Iam Bonasera, hence her $150,000 price tag when she sold as a yearling. In two years of racing, she has already banked $352,245 and plans are to campaign her in the midwest in 2014.

KING MUFASA
Three-Year-Old Colt Trotter
Record: 14-2-0 from 18 starts
Money Won: $238,590
Driver: Mike Oosting
Trainer: Mike Brink
Owners: H.H. Wright and Mystical Marker Farms.

Few horses have dominated their sophomore trotting division the way the son of Powerful Emotion did this year. He put together an amazing 12-race winning streak over a five-month period that saw him come away stake triumphs in the $50,800 Cardinal, the $37,100 Hanover, the $51,000 Kadabra — all at Balmoral — both the Springfield and Du Quoin titles, the $124,000 Su Mac Lad on Super Night at Balmoral and a $31,000 Circle City at Hoosier Park. He'll also be back to race in 2014 in the midwest.

TROT FUDGE SUNDAE
Three-Year-Old Filly Trotter
Record: 7-1-5 from 20 starts
Money Won: $114,354
Driver: Dave Magee
Trainer: Dirk Simpson
Owners: Jim Bafia, Gene White and Sam Daddono.

After running away with division honours as a two-year-old, the American Native filly had to put on a late season rally to edge out Sara The Spy for the top spot as a three-year-old. The high point of Trot Fudge Sunday's second campaign came with a sweep of the Lady Ann Reed, including that $105,000 final on Balmoral's Super Night in mid-September. She then went to Indiana and beat open-company trotters in a $22,000 Preferred event at Hoosier Mark. In October, she won a $12,000 stakes event on Maywood's half-miler. In two seasons, the filly has hauled down more than $297,000 in earnings.

FORT SILKY
Aged Male Pacer
Record: 17-12-2 from 35 starts
Money Won: $269,075
Driver: Casey Leonard
Trainer: Terry Leonard
Owners: John Prentice and Neva Jane Keeler

He went from being a good ICF horse to the best pacer of any breed on the circuit, and he did it at the age of seven. All but one of his 17 seasonal wins came either in an ICF stakes event or its elimination, or in Balmoral's top-level Invitational ranks. Fort Silky has missed only two purse cheques this year. The Ft Apache Hanover offspring captured the $28,534 Cardinal, the $30,000 Broadway Preview and the $30,000 Big Tom at Balmoral, and the $30,000 Mc Keever when he was crowned king of the Maywood Park Pacing Series. He also racked up 10 Balmoral invitational victories.

LETS GO HIGHER
Aged Mare Pacer
Record: 14-4-6 from 37 starts
Money Won: $198,236
Driver: ‘Numerous’
Trainer: Heidi Rohr
Owners: Jesse De Long

She narrowly ended the two-year reign of Mystical Victress in this division. The lone time they met all year, Lets Go Higher was much the best in the Propes final on Super Night with driver John De Long. The five-year-old daughter of Cole Muffler also had three more season wins and more than $20,000 earned than the Erv Miller Mystical Victress. Lets Go Higher campaigned most of the year on the east coast, where she won 10 open paces in New York at such tracks as Yonkers, Saratoga and Vernon Downs, where she set a new career mark of 1:50.2 in August.

(The Daily Journal)