Stakes Mania At Maywood Park
The stars were out in full force Friday evening at Maywood Park as the half-mile oval hosted the Galt Trot, the Abe Lincoln, the Cinderella and the Windy City Pace.
Here’s a complete recap of what transpired in those rich events:
$180,000 Windy City Pace for three-year-old colt pacers
Big Boy Dreams won the Windy City Pace in wire-to-wire fashion for driver Tim Tetrick in 1:51. The Ron Burke-trainee and New York Sire Stake competitor notched his fourth win of the year in ten starts.
“I got the front the way I wanted and my horse was big and strong and carried me all the way to the wire,” Tetrick stressed. “I wanted to make the other horses have to catch me. He’s been racing tough on the New York circuit.”
Big Boy Dreams took the field to a brutal :25.4 first quarter and a :54.1 half, with Lets Drink On It (Travis Seekman) challenging the leader going to the 1:22.2 three-quarters, but Big Boy Dreams just continued to draw away in the stretch to win by two and a half lengths. He now has $168,495 in seasonal earnings for owner Dominic Rosato of Utica, New York.
“It’s good to get back home,” said Tetrick. “I cut my teeth there and it’s always good to be here.”
Lets Drink On It finished second, while Three Of clubs (Doug McNair) was third and Kingofthejungle (Brian Carpenter) got up for fourth.
The son of If I Can Dream-Stefani Blue Chip-Art Major has $340,533 in career earnings from six wins in 11 starts for these connections. He was a $9,000 yearling purchase from the 2012 Morrisville, NY College Sale.
$37,600 Cinderella Stake divisions for three-year-old pacing fillies
Sayitall BB captured the first $37,600 Cinderella Stake division handily in 1:52.2 with Tim Tetrick at the lines for trainer Ronnie Burke.
“When she cleared and made the top, the rest was easy,” Tetrick said. “She’s a very nice mare with a lot of talent and she did everything right. I never even pulled the plugs either. She’ll go with all of the better mares I’m sure, and if I’m not driving her in the future, I’ll sure be watching out for her.”
Sayitall BB accomplished this latest triumph impressively in wire-to-wire fashion, through splits of :27.2, :56.1 and 1:24.4, with Mamas Fallen Angel (Doug McNair) second and Somethinincredible (Dave Magee) third.
Sayitall BB is owned by Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi, and now has $186,660 in seasonal earnings from seven wins in 12 starts. She has $208,310 in career earnings from 12 wins in 17 lifetime trips postward. The daughter of Tell All is the 11th foal out of the Nobleland Sam mare Challo BB.
Lady Shadow (Doug McNair) held on to win the second $37,600 Cinderella Division in 1:53.2 over rival Major Dancer (Brett Miller). Gregg McNair conditions the daughter of Shadow Play-Lady Camella-Camluck for owners Lindsey & Connie L Rankin of Lexington, MI.
Lady Shadow grabbed the lead easily and never looked back through a very soft opening first quarter and half in :27.3 and :57.
“I knew there was another horse getting close to me at the wire and so did she,” said Doug McNair. “This is her last race of the season and she deserves a break now as she’s raced tough all season.”
Lady Shadow continued to have an easy lead over her six rivals, clocked in 1:25.3 at the three-quarter marker with Kayla Grace (Todd Warren) and Rocknroll Meg (Tim Tetrick) both throwing late challenges at her, but to no avail. At the last moment, Major Dancer, who had been riding the rail in the two-hole, snuck up the rail and narrowly missed besting the winner. Rocknroll Meg held on for third, with Kayla Grace grabbing fourth.
Lady Shadow now has $259,635 in seasonal earnings from six wins in 13 starts, and $449,527 in career earnings from 11 wins in 21 starts. She is the ninth foal out of her dam and was a $19,000 yearling purchase at the 2012 Forest City Sale.
$57,100 Abe Lincoln for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings
Earndawg took advantage of a perfect steer to capture the $57,100 Abe Lincoln Stake in 1:55.1.
The son of Sportsmaster-Pacific Sister K-Western Hanover notched his sixth career victory against six rivals in the evening’s fourth race.
Roger Welch trains Earndawg for owners William C DeLong of Clinton, WI and Pat DeLong of South Beloit, IL and J Miller of Mount Horeb, WI.
Earndawg nabbed the lead easily, with Lucpark (Dave Magee) right on his heels and King Of The Swamp (Ridge Warren) sitting third.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to cross over that easily, but I got the rail pretty well,” winning driver Todd Warren said.
Positions remained unchanged to the opening panel of :28.1 and to the :57.2 half, before Dupages Z Tam (Casey Leonard) moved hard against the leader. However, Earndawg had plenty left in the tank, sprinting to a 1:25.4 three-quarter clocking while the hard-trying Angelo J Fra (Tim Tetrick) went three-wide around the final turn.
“I didn’t want to get run down that much on the backside, but we were racing for good money, so that was okay. I think this horse races best from off the pace. If I would have gotten torched a little more going to the half, they would have had a better shot to beat me.”
Earndawg still had plenty left in the tank as he brushed to a three-quarter length victory with Lucpark finishing second and Angelo J Fra nabbing third. Earndawg’s stablemate, King Of The Swamp was fourth, followed by Dupages Z Tam, Shadows Image and JK Allnitelong.
Earndawg pushed his career earnings to $189,265. He finished second at Balmoral last Saturday night to Roland N Rock in the $86,000 American National and has also won the $186,000 Orange & Blue at Balmoral and the $43,350 Cardinal at Maywood.
Earndawg, a $35,000 yearling purchase from the 2013 Walker Standardbred Sale, is out of the Western Hanover mare Pacific Sister K 4,1:54 ($107,550) and is a full brother to Mystical MJ p,1:51.1 ($275,219) and a half-brother to Doubleshotascotch p,4,1:51f ($692,491).
$92,300 Galt Stake for three-year-old trotters
E L Titan captured the Galt Stake for sophomore trotters in 1:56 with trainer Riina Rekila at the lines. It was the first time this stake has been won by a female driver.
The son of Muscle Hill-Courtney Hill is owned by Erkki Laakkonen of Nastola, Florida and added the winner’s share of $46,150 to his bankroll of $295,201. It was colt’s fifth lifetime win in 11 career starts.
E L Titan grabbed the lead at the start and led the field through fractions of :28.4, :58.2 and 1:27.1. Rompaway Galaxy (Dave Magee) was the only challenger to take a try at E L Titan, and ended up being first over for the entire mile.
“My plan was to go out of there as hard as I needed to, to get to the front,” said Rekila. “He was way more aggressive than normal tonight. When the other horse challenged me, I knew that he was having a tough trip and my horse still felt good.”
E L Titan won by 1-¼ lengths over the tenacious Rompaway Galaxy, with Dony Andreas (Tim Tetrick) getting up for third and Madewell Hanover (Chris Ryder) notching fourth-place money.
“I think this horse will be a very nice four-year-old, and that’s the reason for his limited number of starts,” she added. “By skipping the Yonkers Trot, this will allow him to get into some other races.”
E L Titan is the fourth foal out of his Garland Lobell dam Courtney Hall and is half-brother to Appomattox (by Yankee Glide) 3, 1:52.2M ($424,448); E L Rock (by Yankee Glide) 4, 1:53.4f ($294,280) and E L Rocket (by Credit Winner) 3, 1:53.1s ($233,935).
(Maywood Park)