Illinois-conceived and foaled action grabbed the Sunday (July 12) headlines at Balmoral Park, as a pair of state-bred events for diagonally-gaited three-year-olds shared top billing on the 10-race program.

The boys kicked off the action in Race 4, as a field of eight colts and geldings met in the $8,000 Brandenburg Stake. Once again, the dash figured to be a battle between the top two colts in the division, Captain Greedy and Fox Valley Qatar, and the race lived up to the ‘pre-fight’ hype. Captain Greedy and J D Finn got up in the final 100 yards to win by three-quarters of a length while knocking off last season’s divisional champ, Fox Valley Qatar, for the third straight time. The final time of 1:56 was a career best.

After taking the field through an opening quarter in :28.3, Finn elected to let a hard-charging Fox Valley Qatar (driven by Todd Warren) take command on the backstretch, and the pair proceeded to lead the field through middle splits of :57 and 1:26.4.

Through the lane, Finn angled the son of Yankee Valor—Tropical Trixie to the outside of horses. He eventually wore down the favoured Fox Valley Qatar with a sixteenth of a mile to go for his fifth win in eight starts this season. Fox Valley Qatar was forced to settle for the runner-up role yet again, while Southern Special (Brian Carpenter) finished third.

Sent off as the second choice in the wagering, the John D. Finn trainee returned $5.60, $2.80 and $2.10 while running his career record to 14-5-3 from 25 starts with earnings of $94,796 for owners Charles Doehring and John D. Finn.

The girls were next on the docket, as a field of eight three-year-old fillies lined up behind the gate for the $8,000 Fox Valley Diva Stake. Continuing a nice mid-season run, Homer Hochstetler and Robert Buddig’s Persuasive Look overtook the early leaders in mid-stretch and drew off late to record an open-length victory in 1:56.2.

Well handled by regular pilot Casey Leonard, the daughter of Powerful Emotion—Black N Bluegenes left hard from Post 4 and then settled into the garden spot while Bi Polar Rose (Travis Seekman) and Tal Wi Wi (John De Long) traded blows up front through splits of :29.1, :57.2 and 1:26.1.

Moving to the outside as the field neared the top of the lane, the Homer Hochstetler-trained miss blew right by a tiring Tal Wi Wi to grab her third win in nine starts this year. Lcsnmotion (Mike Oosting) unleashed a nice late move to rally for the bridesmaid spot, while Fox Valley Yoko (John De Long) was third.

With the win, Persuasive Look now sports career number of 7-6-5 from 22 trips postward with earnings of $116,992. The 2-1 favourite in the wagering returned $6.20, $3.40 and $2.20 to her backers.

(Balmoral)