Illinois conceived and foaled fillies and mares stepped into the spotlight on a frigid Saturday night at Balmoral Park, but things warmed up in a hurry for longshot players as Ronald Phillips and Jesse Ferge’s Fox Valley Aubry, the longest shot in the race at 30-1, lit up the board with a one and three-quarter length victory in 1:53.3 to win the $8,060 Fox Valley Memory Stake.
Perfectly handled by driver Travis Seekman, the three-year-old daughter of Yankee Skyscaper—Assailed worked out a perfect ground-saving trip in third as Rev Me Up (Brian Carpenter) carved out splits of :26.3, :56.4 and 1:26.
With a weary leader beginning to drift off the pylons in the lane, Seekman patiently waited for room in the passing lane while huge favourite Ryleighs Lilly (Casey Leonard) began to pick off horses from the back of the pack.
Securing room at just the right time, the Bob Phillips-trained miss shot through an opening at the pylons and quickly drew clear of the big chalk to secure her fifth win of the season. Ryleighs Lilly was forced to settle for the bridesmaid role on this night while another longshot, Joyful Game (Mike Oosting), rallied late to finish third.
The win was the 15th of Fox Valley Aubry’s career and helped propel her over the $90,000 mark in lifetime earnings.
Those lucky enough to back the sophomore facing older company were rewarded with mutuels of $63.80, $18.00 and $8.60. The exacta returned a healthy $241.80 with the 2-5 favourite while the trifecta came back at $1,569 for a $2 investment.
(With files from Balmoral Park)