Sophomore pacing colts stepped into the spotlight on Saturday night at Balmoral Park as a total of 14 state bred three-year-olds battled it out in a pair of $13,930 Illinois Standardbred Owners and Breeders Association stake splits
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In the first division Luke Gaule and James Cravens' Fox Valley Ruler pulled off a shocker as he came charging through the lane to nab the victory in a career best of 1:53.1.
Dispatched at odds of 14-1 in just his sixth career start the son of Richess Hanover-Rons Girl left alertly from post position six for driver Dean Magee. Taking advantage of breaks by Henry Gram and Filthy Rich, Magee was able to find a nice spot in fourth as 3-5 favourite Rich N Flashy (Tyler Buter) led the field through an opening quarter in :28.2.
Content to save ground while in good striking position Fox Valley Ruler was still sitting in fourth while Fox Valley Azure (Mike Oosting) swept into command as the field headed by the half-mile mark in 56.1.
Moving around the final turn Magee maneuvered Fox Valley Ruler to the outside which in turn flushed out the pocket sitting Rich N Flashy. Moving into third behind his live cover Fox Valley Ruler was just 1 3/4 lengths behind the dueling Fox Valley Azure and Rich N Flashy as they rolled by the three-quarter-mile pole in 1:25.2.
Uncorking a 27.2 final quarter the Tom Simmons trainee flew right by the leaders as he drew clear to win by two lengths. Sandbar Slugger (Brandon Simpson) turned a ground saving trip into a second place finish while 25-1 longshot Sponzo Brotka (Dave Magee) rallied to be third.
With his only other victory coming in his career debut back on April 2nd Fox Valley Ruler rewarded his backers with mutuels of $30.00, $10.00 and $6.80.
The second division provided no such upsets as Shirley LeVin’s Park Lane Deputy turned in a spectacular performance winning by two lengths in a career best of 1:51.3.
Taking advantage of the inside starting spot driver Dale Hiteman zipped the son of Sportsmaster-Darling Katherine away from the gate and was comfortably in front as he cruised through an opening quarter in :28.0.
Continuing to roll along on the front end Park Lane Deputy put up middle splits of :56.3 and 1:25.0.
After putting away a futile bid from longshot Jamboree (Tyler Buter) as the field turned for home the issue was never in doubt the rest of the way as Park Lane Deputy simply paced away from the rest of his rivals with a :26.3 final split to win for the fourth time in five starts this season. Man In Motion (Dave Magee) finished second while the pocket sitting My Boy Luke (Josh Sutton) was third.
After an abbreviated two-year-old season in which he posted one win in two starts Park Lane Deputy has really turned heads this season with four wins and a second in five starts. Bet like defeat was out of the question Park Lane Deputy returned just $2.40, $2.10 and $2.10.
The stakes action continues on Sunday night with a full field of 10 sophomore trotting fillies going postward in an $18,270 ISOBA Stake, which goes as race eight on the 12-race Mothers Day card. First post on Sunday is 6:30 p.m. (central).
(Balmoral Park)