Sophomore pacing colts opened the 2009 Balmoral Park stakes action on Saturday night as a total of 13 Illinois conceived and foaled three-year-olds met in a pair of $11,500 Taurus Bomber Stake splits

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In the first division Jim Reynolds, Jim Edgar and Terry & Judy Rathberger’s Rich N Flashy lived up to his 3-2 favouritism with a sharp 3 ½ length score in 1:54.4.

After watching Teheros (Darcy Pletcher) and Innovation (Todd Warren) slug it out through splits of :27.4, :58 and 1:26.3, Hall of Famer Dave Magee seemingly had Rich N Flashy in a perfect second over spot as the field reached the top of the stretch.

That’s when disaster almost struck. Sitting right on the back of a first-over Fox Valley Iccarus (Mike Oosting), Magee was forced to grab up and move to the far outside when his cover made a nasty break right in front of him. Despite losing his momentum and several lengths to the leader, Magee was still able to get Rich N Flashy back on course. The Kristopher Reynolds trained son of Richess Hanover-Duchess Hallie then responded beautifully as he flew home in :27.4 to get the victory. Drama Party (Marcus Miller) shook loose after getting shuffled to last and rallied well to finish second while Sandbar Slugger (Brandon Simpson).

The victory was the second in five starts for the bay gelding who returned $5.00, $3.40 and $2.40.

It was bombs away in the nightcap as Shirley LeVin’s 27-1 longshot Park Lane Deputy shook loose late and then flew home to record a one-length victory in a career best of 1:53.

Patiently handled by driver Dale Hiteman the son of Sportsmaster-Darling Katherine took full advantage of the inside starting spot. Racing in the garden spot and saving ground through splits of :27.3, :56.3 and 1:24, the Homer Hochstetler trainee was fit and fresh as the field turned for home.

Unfortunately, the pace setting Successfully Rich (Brian Carpenter) began to tire badly leaving Hiteman desperately searching for racing room as Captain Kid (Mike Oosting) and Fort Silky (Robert Smolin) came rolling up on the outside of horses. Pushed back to fourth place with less than a sixteenth of a mile to go Hiteman expertly maneuvered his charge through a small opening between the top two and Park Lane Deputy quickly gobbled up the leaders to grab the victory. Fort Silky turned in a solid effort to finish second while Captain Kid wound up third.

Making his first start of the year after an abbreviated two-year-old campaign that saw him win one of his two starts, Park Lane Deputy returned a hefty $56.00, $18.80 and $9.00 to his backers.

The stakes action will continue on Sunday night as a field of nine three-year-old pacing fillies square off in the $15,000 Direct Balance Stake, which goes as Race 8 on the 12-race program. Post time on Sunday is 6:30 p.m. (central).

(Balmoral Park)