Freshman pacing filly Whisper Of Luck has shown an abundance of skill during the Fair circuit of the Maine Sire Stakes, grabbing her second consecutive victory on Friday, Aug. 30 at the historic Windsor Fair.
Leaving from post four the Marc Tardif-trained daughter of Artistic Fella slipped down to the pylons in the $26,582 event and let front-runner Chasing Dudes (Nick Graffam) take command into a 31-second opening panel. Wagering favourite Glorilla (Ron Cushing) hesitantly marched first over from the start with Leanne Marie (Mike Cushing) sitting comfortably in the pocket.
As the field moved toward the 1:02.3 softer half-mile marker, Switzer pulled Whisper Of Luck second over, but as his cover started to stall around the third turn, they ducked back to the rail before heading down the backstretch the final time.
With the pacesetter Chasing Dudes enjoying all the tussling behind them, Audrey (Steve Wilson) pulled three-wide down the backside to circumvent Glorilla who was still hanging-on gamely past the 1:33.1 third stanza.
Full of pace, and with nowhere to go but to the extreme outside, Switzer charged Whisper Of Luck four-deep around the final turn in an effort to roll clear of the front-end battlers.
Down the short stretch Glorilla has gone the gritty, uncovered trip and was trying valiantly to catch Chasing Dudes under the shadow of the wire. However, Whisper Of Luck handily brushed past them all to steal the show and prevail by a head in 2:04.
Also owned and bred in Maine by conditioner Marc Tardif, Whisper Of Luck picked up her second straight win and she increased her lifetime earnings to $40,634. She paid $6.60 to win.
Chasing Dudes hung on to be second; Glorilla finished third.
The Maine Sire Stakes continues with all four divisions of trotters on Saturday (Aug. 31), three-year-old male pacers on Sunday (Sept. 1), and concludes on Labour Day Monday (Sept. 2) with the sophomore filly pacers.
(Maine Sire Stakes)