The first six-figure event of the season in the Chicagoland area took place on Friday night at Maywood Park as a field of eight Illinois conceived and foaled three-year-old pacing fillies met in the $112,000 Filly Maywood Pace.
When the smoke cleared Engel Stable of Il LLC’s Sleazy Does It picked a great time to grab her first win of the season, avoiding traffic problems in the final turn to post a one and three-quarter length victory in 1:54.3 with Marcus Miller at the controls.
Electing to avoid an early duel with the speedy Fox Valley Hermia (Ronnie Gillespie), who had the inside starting spot, Miller ducked into the middle of the pack as Fox Valley Hermia steam-rolled through an opening quarter in :27.4.
“I went back and forth in my mind trying to figure out what would be my best move ever since the draw for this race came out,” explained Miller. “I knew my filly could pace faster than any of the others if she was in position at the end of the mile so I figured it would be best to avoid taking a chance and getting hung out to dry.”
With Gillespie trying to give Fox Valley Hermia a break as she rolled through middle splits of :57.1 and 1:25.4, a live outer flow began to develop with Miller third over as the field headed into the final bend.
That’s when disaster struck for Fox Valley Hermia as the elimination winner made a nasty break impeding several horses that were stuck on the inside behind her at that time. It was also a case of perfect timing on Miller’s part as he had just moved Sleazy Does It three-wide making it easier for her to get around the scattering fillies.
“I could see Ronnie’s filly was starting to put in some steps just as we started into the turn,” said Miller. “My filly had been covered up and felt great at that point so when I saw the leader start to get rough I decided to move my horse three wide to get around those horses that had been lingering on the outside.”
Niftily avoiding the trouble, the daughter of Sagebrush-Da Sleazy One began to circle horses, quickly swallowing up Party Hangover (John De Long), who had been stuck first over for quite some time.
With clear sailing the Nelson Willis-trained miss set sail for home rewarding a legion of backers, who had hammered her down to even-money despite being winless in 2012. Longshot Melodie Hotspur (Mike Oosting), who was a surprise winner in last week’s elimination action, rallied late to be the bridesmaid while Party Hangover wound up third.
Returning $4.20, $3.00 and $3.20, Sleazy Does It now boasts a career record of 6-6-3 in 19 starts with earnings of nearly $165,000.
State-bred pacing colts were also in action on Friday night as a pair of $10,000 eliminations for the $124,000 Maywood Pace were contested. With a total of 13 three-year-olds dropped into the entry box, the top four finishers in each elimination get the chance to return for next week’s signature event.
In the first elimination Sawgrass Farms' Uncle Smoothie took advantage of the inside starting spot as he grabbed command right from the word go and made every call a winning one, reporting home with a three and three-quarter length victory in a snappy 1:52.4.
Confidently handled by Brian Carpenter, the gelded son of Sportsmaster-Kan Commute rattled off splits of :27.1, :55.3 and 1:24.2 while battling a hung out Fox Valley George.
After putting away the bid of that longshot, the Nelson Willis trainee then sprinted away from the rest of the field as the pacers headed around the far turn.
The issue was never in doubt from that point on as Uncle Smoothie cruised to his second victory of the year and the seventh in his 19-race career. Fox Valley Mahalo (Todd Warren) took the shortest way around the track as he rallied to finish second while Crime Of Passion (Marcus Miller) was third. Yankee Doodle Jim (Casey Leonard) grabbed a spot in the final by finishing fourth.
In the second elimination Stevanna Turner and John Fletcher’s NJs Big Deal went winging away from post position six and then held on gamely through the lane to post a one length wire to wire victory in 1:52.3.
Leaving like a freight train, the son of Sagebrush-A Passing Breeze easily crossed over to the pylons from the outside and was on top by six lengths as he rolled by the opening station in :27.4.
Continuing to show the way through middle splits of :57.3 and 1:25 for driver Ronnie Gillespie, the John Fletcher trainee began to feel pressure from a first over Smooth Transition (Casey Leonard) heading towards the three-quarter-mile mark.
After putting away that challenge, NJs Big Deal then held safe the rest of the way as a hard-charging Als Hammered (Robert Smolin) shook loose late to rally for second while Urawomanizer (Mike Oosting) parlayed a pocket-sitting trip into a third place check. The last spot in the final went to fourth place finisher M T Nester.
The win was the fourth of the year for NJs Big Deal who now has 12 wins in 22 career starts.
(Maywood Park)