The 2009 summer racing schedule at Balmoral Park kicked off with the Iggy Magoo stake for three-year-old trotting colts on Tuesday night
. With a total of 17 Illinois conceived and foaled sophomores dropped into the entry box this stake was split into a pair of $11,500 divisions.
In the first division Kay Willis and Brandy Pinske Stable’s Windy Joe came charging through the lane to win by a half-length in a career best of 1:58.1.
Leaving from post position eight driver Mike Oosting did a nice job of settling his charge into sixth as B Victorious (Brandon Simpson) and Sago (Tyler Buter) battled through an opening quarter in :29.4.
B Victorious continued to show the way down the backstretch leaving Sago hung out to dry as the two raced by the half-mile mark in :59.0.
A lively outer flow started to develop as the field moved into the final turn and Oosting had his colt perfectly positioned in a third over spot. With the top two still continuing to battle it out on the front end the trotters reached the three-quarter-mile mark in 1:28.3.
That’s when Oosting decided to tip his charge three wide. Just as he did in his season opening win last week the son of Valley Victor-Fox Valley Beloved responded beautifully as he came charging down the lane. Holding a bunching group of rivals at bay through the final eighth of a mile the Nelson Willis trainee reported home with his fourth career win in 15 starts. Fox Valley Photog (Homer Hochstetler) shook loose from some traffic problems in the late going to finish second while Victor’s Story (Dale Hiteman) rallied from far back to finish third.
In the second division Connie Hochstetler and Bruce and Dean Alexander’s good looking colt Dr McDreamy looked like he was in mid-season form as he made every call a winning one in a blazing 1:55.0.
Handled like he was head and shoulders the best in this group by driver-trainer Homer Hochstetler this son of American Native-Colors Of The Wind sped right to the top from post position two.
Maintaining a comfortable margin throughout his journey Dr McDreamy cruised through splits of :28.2, :56.4 and 1:26.3.
Despite having last year’s two-year-old champion Definer (Tyler Buter) sitting right on his back throughout the mile Dr McDreamy left his main rival in the dust as he sprinted away from this group with a :28.2 quarter to win by a widening five-length margin. Definer was forced to settle for the second place check while Red Victor (Mike Oosting) finished third.
After a two-year-old season in which he showed plenty of potential but also battled breaking problems Dr McDreamy appears all set for a big sophomore campaign. The win was his fourth in 13 career starts and helped push his career earnings over the $70,000 mark.
(Balmoral Park)