Fans of the half-mile oval at Maywood Park may have had to do a double take on Thursday night as trotters took centre stage with a field of eight three-year-old fillies grabbing the headlines in the $14,300 Speed N The Tunnel Stakes.
Taking home top honours in the state-bred affair was Dixie Sue Graham and Steve Poore’s Powerful Connection, as she grabbed command from the word go and made every call a winning one in 2:02.3 over a 'sloppy' track for driver Brian Carpenter.
Zipped away from Post 2 by Carpenter, the daughter of Powerful Emotion--Alpine Queen grabbed command control of the proceedings heading into the first turn forcing a hard-leaving Make It Rain (driven by Mike Oosting) to take a seat in second as the field trotted by an opening quarter in :28.3.
From that point on the issue was never really in doubt, as the Gerald Hansen-trained sophomore rolled through splits of :58.3 and 1: 30.1.
With a slow third quarter under her belt, Powerful Connection had plenty in reserve as she rebuffed a bid from the pocket-sitting Make It Rain to notch her sixth win in 18 starts this season. Make It Rain was forced to settle for the bridesmaid role while My Funky Farkle (Dale Hiteman) turned a ground-saving trip into a third-place finish.
A now 10-time career winner, Powerful Connection was sent off as the 6-5 post time choice and returned $4.60, $2.80 and $2.20 across the board.
(Maywood)