A trio of 13 race cards highlighted a warm and adventurous weekend at Hawthorne Race Course this past weekend. Leading the way throughout the weekend was the father-son pair of Todd and Ridge Warren.
Friday night was 'Ridge Warren Night' at Hawthorne, as he made his presence known early in the evening. Ridge kicked off his hot night winning the first leg of the early Pick 4 sequence with 5-1 shot Impressive Art (1:53.2) for trainer Dane May. While Ridge started the pick 4 with a win, he completed a sweep of the entire sequence.
In Race 4, the second leg of the early Pick 4, Warren guided home Mckee Creek (1:53.3) to a late rallying victory for trainer Nick Prather. He followed that with winning behind He Gone Jack (1:52.1) for the second straight week for trainer Mike Brink. Ridge closed the sequence with the upset of the night as Terry Leonard trained Pondas Prospect (1:51) upset Terry Leonard-trained Illinois Champ Fox Valley Gemini, winning the open pace by a neck.
Ridge rounded out his night taking the 12th race behind Better Watch Out (1:52.2) for trainer Merv Chupp, capping a five-win evening.
While Ridge Warren had the big night, his father, Todd, won the biggest race on the Friday card. Leg two action of the $17,500 Incredible Finale, for Illinois-bred two-year-old male pacers was the featured event. An early break by favoured Well Basically opened the door for Todd Warren to give a perfect trip to Frontier Charley, as the Jim Eaton-trained youngster won by a head in 1:57.1. Mekkas Big Guy was a game second while Partyatmosasplace finished third. Todd would make it a Friday double, taking the nightcap with Artofficial Flavor (1:54.2) for trainer Angela Coleman.
The tables turned on Saturday night, as that time it was Todd Warren stringing together victories on the card. Trying to repeat the feat of Ridge’s Friday night early Pick 4 sweep, Todd nearly did just that. In the first leg of the Saturday sequence, Todd got things started, pulling off the big upset with 29-1 shot Helens Girl (1:54.3) for trainer William Crone. In the following race it was Todd Warren again in the winner’s circle, this time with Crooked Creek (1:55.4) for trainer Mike Brink. The third leg of the Pick 4 also went to Todd Warren as he drove Tappin Outamessage (1:52.2) to a clear win for trainer Harold Herrera. Todd almost got the sweep of the sequence but Fox Valley Torrid came up short, finishing third in Race 6 as favoured Lilly Von Shtupp (1:53.2) wasn’t to be denied.
With Todd Warren winning races early, it meant it was Ridge Warren’s turn to take the spotlight for the stakes event. Leg two of the $17,500 Incredible Tillie for Illinois-bred two-year-old filly pacers followed. Heavily favoured was Ridge Warren driven Connie On The Go and she didn’t disappoint, controlling the pace for the majority of the race, winning clearly for trainer Jamaica Patton in 1:58. Princess Mooss rallied to finish second while longshot Kandis Fortune held third.
Ridge was able to grab his second win on the card, taking Race 12 with Hello Art (1:55) for trainer Mike Brink. Saturday also saw a driving triple from Casey Leonard, winning the second with Meetmeatthefinish (1:54.1), sixth race behind Lilly Von Shtupp (1:53.2), and 11th with Louscardamon (1:58.4). Kyle Wilfong had a pair of wins on the card, guiding home favourites Stella Kemp (1:58.4) and Ok Jewel (1:54.4) to wins in the ninth and tenth races.
An eventful Sunday evening at Hawthorne wasn’t dominated nearly as much by the Warren family, although the father-son duo were the race five exacta as Todd drove Shelly On My Mind (1:53.2) to a win over Ridge and Pretty Iris.
Juvenile trotters were the focus on the card with a pair of divisions of the $17,500 Fox Valley Flan for two-year-old filly trotters and two divisions of the $17,500 Kadabra for two-year-old male trotters.
The first division of the Fox Valley Flan was dominated by the favourite as Bbr Lady grabbed the early lead for driver-trainer Freddie Patton Jr. and never looked back, winning easily in 2:01.4. Lucky Valerie was a good second while Lou Lou Lamour recovered from a break to finish third.
The second division of the Fox Valley Flan saw a minor upset as Kyle Wilfong guided Lous Voodoo Woman (2:01.2) to the score over favoured Myonly Sin. Bcs Rose finished third. Lous Voodoo Woman was trained by Steve Searle.
In the first leg of the Kadabra we saw an upset as well as Rndmnunpredictable uncorked a late rally to catch favoured Sudden Approach on the wire, winning in 2:01.2 for driver Mike Oosting and trainer Steve Searle. Imnotalocaldude finished third.
The second leg of the Kadabra had the two favourites rallying late as Coco Dlascito (2:03.4) rolled to the win for Casey Leonard and trainer Jenna Lubeck. Slight favourite Shady Maple Spirit was good enough to finish second while Lousrolando was third.
The tenth race Sunday had a scary moment as Captain Classic stepped on a front hobble at the top of the stretch, causing a chain reaction spill that included Fox Valley Jude and Master Ken. In the spill, drivers Kyle Husted, Tyler Shehan, and Casey Leonard were all unseated.
Fortunately all three horses escaped injury and Shehan and Leonard were able to walk away from the incident. Husted was transported to the hospital but reports that he was dealing with knee soreness from a prior injury and hopes for a quick return to the bike.
(Hawthorne Race Course)