Fresh off an impressive win in his career debut in last week’s $6,000 Bingo Johnnie Stakes, Bart Seales' Unlocked continued to impress fans of the Chicago circuit as he rolled to a decisive eight-length victory in Sunday’s $15,000 Wicked Brew Stakes.
Unlocked's win time of 1:53.3 was the fastest mile of the year by any two-year-old in North America as of Sunday night.
Placed in mid-pack by driver Kyle Husted, the homebred son of Duneside Perch-Miss Major Power used a huge backside brush to sweep by early leaders Wimpy Doodle (driven by Art Gregory Jr.) and Diddy Dune (Jamaica Patton), who had exchanged stints on the front-end through opening splits of :28.3 and :56.3.
Heading around the final bend, the Curtis Rice trainee blew right by the pacesetters and quickly opened up a five-length advantage while speeding by the three-quarter-mile mark in 1:25.
With nothing but the clear crisp Crete air between themselves and a second straight victory, Husted and Unlocked set sail for the wire and finished off their rivals with an effortless :28.3 final quarter to keep their perfect record intact. Cotton Eyed Joe (Robert Smolin) came on late to finish a strong second while longshot Bloodbath McGrath (John De Long) rallied late to pick up the show dough.
Having been hammered at the betting windows after an impressive win in what was his career debut, Unlocked returned $3.60, $2.60 and $2.40 to his legion of backers.
(Balmoral Park)
