After a pair of romping wins in downstate fair events, Donald Huddleston’s Macie Rae returned to Balmoral Park on Sunday night looking to avenge her only loss of the year which came in the Violet Stakes on May 25.
The speedy filly did just that, as she shot right to the front and proceeded to make every call a winning one in an easy one and a half-length victory over seven other ICF three-year-old trotting fillies in the $10,000 Betzotic Stakes. The final time of 1:55.3 shaved nearly three seconds off her previous career mark.
Taking full advantage of an inside starting spot driver Ryan Anderson hustled the daughter of Powerful Emotion—Fox Valley Poetry away from Post 2 and quickly settled into a familiar position on the front end while leading the field through splits of :28.2, :58.4 and 1:27.4.
With the Violet Stake winner Baileys Wish (driven by Dave Magee) sitting right on their backs, Anderson and the Michael Rogers trainee were never seriously threatened on their march to victory lane Sunday night, sealing the deal with a sharp :27.4 final panel while effortlessly keeping their chief rival at bay. Baileys Wish was forced to settle for the bridesmaid role while Say No Mo (John De Long) finished a distant third, five lengths behind the winner.
With Sunday’s victory, Macie Rae, who was hammered at the betting windows returned $4.00, $2.80 & $2.60 while running her career record to 13-3-4 from 25 starts with earnings of $48,907 for her Palmer, Illinois-based owner.
Live racing continues at Balmoral Park on Wednesday, June 25 win a nine-card card that will get underway at 7:10 p.m. (Central). The Wednesday Pick 4 will have a $10,000 guaranteed pool and will entail races six through nine.
(Balmoral Park)