Fans of Balmoral Park received their first look at some of this year’s two-year-old trotting filly crop in the Prairie State on Wednesday night as a field of five youngsters met in the $5,000 Star Slinger Stake
.
As always driver-trainer Homer Hochstetler appears to have a wealth of talented young trotters in his barn this year and that certainly appears to be the case with his homebred Claires Rose who made her career debut a winning one in Wednesday’s Star Slinger.
Looking more like a seasoned veteran than a filly who was making her first start, this daughter of American Native-La Rosita left alertly from the inside post and was in command through an opening quarter in a leisurely :32.1.
After allowing a hard charging Fox Valley Brenna (Dale Hiteman) to take over the top spot as the field moved down the backstretch Hochstetler and Claires Rose sat patiently in the pocket as the field moved through middle splits of 1:01.3 and 1:31.2.
Hochstetler then maneuvered his charge to the outside as the field turned for home. Methodically reeling in the pacesetter as the fillies moved through the lane Claires Rose seized command in the final sixteenth of a mile, eventually drawing clear to win by three-quarters of a length in 2:00.2.
Fox Valley Brenna held on for second while My Birthday Two (Jamaica Patton) overcame a miscue behind the starting gate to wind up third.
(Balmoral Park)