Records are made to be broken. When it’s your own record, it makes things a little bittersweet. When you do it on back to back nights, that makes it a whole lot of fun. That was the story for driver Casey Leonard this past weekend at Hawthorne as he put together consecutive nights winning eight races at Hawthorne.
On Friday evening the eight wins came in a mixed bag for Leonard over the course of the rescheduled 25 race card from the cancelled DuQuoin Fair. Leonard’s first win came in the sixth non-wagering event when he guided Skippymalou (1:59.1) to the win in the County Fair Challenge. In the following non-wagering race, Leonard and Talk About Valor (1:57.4) trotted home to the second victory of the day.
Casey kicked off the Friday pari-mutuel card with another County Fair Challenge win, this time with Ole Swamp Master (1:54.2). After missing by a nose in the night’s second race with Char N Marg and a head in the eighth race with Yankee Bounty, Casey would get his fourth win of the day in race 10, guiding Lous Abigail (1:59.4) to a victory in the $27,250 Shawnee. Another stakes score came in the following event as Fox Valley Torrid (1:56.3) was triumphant in the $27,250 Time Dancer.
Casey made it three-straight stakes scores as he drove home Fox Valley Quest (1:58.2) in the $27,250 Darn Safe. He closed the big Friday night with two more stakes scores, driving Fox Valley Triton (1:56.0) to the win in the $27,250 Dudley Hanover and Lousraptor (1:57.4) in the $27,250 Pronto Don.
While those eight wins on Friday was an exceptional night over the course of the 25 races contested, it was nothing for Casey Leonard as he outdid himself on Saturday. It only took a 15 race Saturday card for Leonard to equal his eight win record, this time doing it all during the pari-mutuel card, a Hawthorne record.
The night started slowly for Leonard, missing the board in the first two races of the evening before finishing second in the night’s third event. After that, Leonard caught fire. He won six straight races as Impressive Trick (1:55.3), Some Nobody (1:55.2), Rockin N Runnin (1:52.3), Fox Valley Gemini (1:51.0), DJ Lance (1:52.3), and Impressive Cowboy (1:55.1) comprised the six win streak. After missing the board in the tenth race, Parklane Official (1:52.2) won race 11 to make it a seven win night. Leonard closed the night with his Hawthorne record eighth victory on the card as Tappin Outamessage was victorious in the finale.
(Hawthorne Racecourse)