State bred pacing fillies headlined Saturday’s Balmoral Park program as a field of eight Illinois conceived and foaled ladies squared off in the $15,000 Direct Balance Stake
. Originally scheduled for the April 5th card, this event was forced to be rescheduled after the latter half of last Sunday’s card was wiped out by heavy snow.
The extra week off certainly did not seem to matter to Kay Willis and Richard Beere’s Native Hotspur as she cruised to an easy 1 ¼ length victory in a snappy 1:53.3.
Despite being off since last November, driver Mike Oosting confidently whisked the daughter of Ft Apache Hanover-Broadway Charisma away from post position six. With a distinct lack of early speed from the other fillies in the race Native Hotspur was comfortably in front as she rolled by the opening station in :28.1.
Continuing along relatively unchallenged the Nelson Willis trained miss strolled through middle splits of :57.4 and 1:26.0.
With that middle-half breather under her belt Native Hotspur set sail for home with a two-length lead. Keeping her rivals at bay with a strong 27.3 final quarter, the issue was never in doubt as last year’s Violet & Sarah Myers Stakes runner-up opened her second season with a very impressive victory. Park Lane Rhythm (Brandon Simpson) turned a pocket sitting journey into a second place finish while Aristocracy (Marcus Miller) shook loose late to get the show dough.
Coming off a nice freshman season in which she put together a record of 4-4-2 in 15 starts, Saturday’s first place check helped push Native Hotspur’s career earnings up to $65,777. Coupled in the wagering with Susan Hotspur (sixth) the entry returned $4.40, $2.80 & $2.10.
In observance of the Easter Holiday Balmoral Park will be dark for live racing on Sunday, April 12. Live racing resumes on Wednesday, April 15. Post time will be 7:20 p.m.
(Balmoral Park)