Despite a five week layoff and a sick scratch last week, Dane May’s Dinky Dune proved that he’s a force to be reckoned with among this year’s Illinois conceived and foaled three-year-old pacing colts as he rolled to a two and three-quarter length victory in 1:53.1 in Saturday’s $8,000 Xpressbet Stake at Balmoral Park.

Given a perfect steer by driver Pat Curtin, the gelded son of Duneside Perch—Dream Hand settled into the garden spot as Dixies Boy (Casey Leonard) led the compact field through pedestrian splits of :29, :58 and 1:26.4.

With the action heating up in the lane, Curtin maneuvered the Dane May trainee to the outside of horses where he quickly gobbled up the pacesetter with a sixteenth to go. Effortlessly opening up an insurmountable advantage, Dinky Dune easily kept heavily favoured Earndawg (Todd Warren) at bay while rolling to his fourth win in seven starts this season. Earndawg, the 2-5 favourite in the race, was forced to settle for a runner-up role on this night while longshot Casey At Bat (Mike Oosting) grabbed the show dough.

The second choice in the wagering, Dinky Dune returned $7.00, $2.80 and $2.40 while running his career record to 4-1-1 in 10 starts with earnings of $22,852.

The state-bred stakes action continues on Sunday, June 28 with a pair of battles sharing top billing. Sophomore trotting colts kick off the festivities in race one as Fox Valley Qatar and Captain Greedy renew their rivalry in the $8,000 Xpressbet Stake. Later in the evening, sophomore pacing fillies will square off in the $8,000 Mystical Victress Stake, which has attracted a full field of 10 led by division stalwarts Lex and Sportsmuffler. The wagering action gets underway at 7:10 p.m. on Sunday night and as always the $1 Pick 4 features a $25,000 guaranteed pool. The Pick 4 is on races seven through 10 on Sunday night.

(Balmoral Park)