A very familiar group of older state-bred pacers renewed acquaintances on Friday, August 29th at Maywood Park as a classy field of five local stars knocked heads in the $25,000 Egyptian Stake, which was Leg 2 of the Maywood Park Pacing Series.
Much like a fine wine, John Prentice and Neva Jane Ikeler’s Fort Silky just continues to get better with age as he rolled to an impressive two-length wire to wire victory in a blistering 1:50.4, which was just two-fifths of a second off the track record on the half-mile oval.
Confidently handled by driver Casey Leonard, the eight-year-old son of Ft Apache Hanover was sent right to the front from his outside starting spot.
In total control of the proceedings, the Terry Leonard-trained gelding reeled off splits of :28.1, :56.1 and 1:23.2 while in hand to Maywood’s leading reinsman.
After turning aside a first over bid from the always dangerous Als Hammered (Robert Smolin), Fort Silky paced home in a wicked :27.2 to notch his 21st win in the past two seasons. Als Hammered was forced to settle for the runner-up role on this night while Mystical Walter (John De Long) finished third, six and three-quarter lengths behind the winner.
Sent off as the second choice in the wagering, Fort Silky returned $5.60, $2.20 and $2.10 while running his career record to an impressive 47-43-28 in 196 lifetime starts with earnings of $664,350 for his proud connections. Fort Silky has now captured the first two legs of this series as he looks to repeat his 2013 win the series.
(Maywood Park)