Freshmen trotters were on display on Wednesday night as eliminations for the Lady Lincoln Land and Lincoln Land Stakes were contested at Balmorak Park
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With a total of 17 fillies dropped into the entry box a pair of $12,000 eliminations were held with the top five finishers moving on to next week’s $110,000 final. A field of 10 colts were entered for the eliminations with the top seven joining Powerful Charger, Powerful Position and Detailer, who received byes on a money earned basis, in the $107,000 final next Wednesday.
In the opening division of the Lady Lincoln Land, La Bella Vita Stables, Robert Taylor and Kevin Dixon’s My Miss Caroline returned to her winning ways as she cruised to an effortless 4-1/2 length victory in 2:00.1.
Perfectly handled by driver Dave Magee, the daughter of Psychic Spirit-Miss Clara T sat in the two-hole while My Funky Farkle (Todd Warren) strolled through pedestrian splits of :30, 1:01 and 1:31.4.
Popping out of the pocket after the field straightened for home, My Miss Caroline trotted right by the pacesetter and was under no urging at all as she reported home with her eighth win in nine career starts for trainer Robert Taylor. My Funky Farkle held on well to finish second while Make It Rain (Robert Smolin) was a distant third. Also gaining spots in the final were The Speed Of White and Ts Rank N File.
The second elimination provided quite a bit of excitement and when the smoke cleared after this wild event it as Desyllas Racing & William Beck’s Fox Valley Helena who came away with a 1-1/2 victory in a career best of 2:02.1.
Parked to an opening quarter of :30.1 as Search For Reality (Dave Magee) showed the way, driver Marcus Miller finally maneuvered Fox Valley Helena to the pylons just after the opening marker.
Content to sit in the two-hole, Miller had the Robert Taylor trainee in the perfect spot as Search For Reality continued to show the way through middle splits of 1:01.3 and 1:33.
Things heated up at the top of the stretch as Ima High Flyer (J.D. Finn) moved alongside the leaders and a three-wide Fox Valley Ruffian (Mike Oosting) began circling horses after spotting the field about 15 lengths after making a break behind the gate.
Quickly rolling to the front, Fox Valley Ruffian appeared to be home free but disaster struck once again as the filly made another break, taking her out of contention for the victory. At that point, Miller had found room with Fox Valley Helena and the daughter of Vaporize-Hallie Rose trotted home strong to get her first win in nine starts. My Game (Dale Hiteman) rallied well to finish second while Maple Grove Emily (Jamaica Patton) was third. Search For Reality earned a spot in the final by finishing fourth while Fox Valley Ruffian amazingly grabbed the final spot despite making two breaks in the race.
The parade of favourites continued in the Lincoln Land elimination as Kay Willis, J.A. Esposito and Brandy Pinske Stables' GJ Photo Victory strolled to an easy 1-1/2 length triumph in 1:58.3.
Getting away fourth as Hammer Head (Marcus Miller) trotted through an opening quarter in :29.3, driver Mike Oosting then elected to send GJ Photo Victory on his way as the field raced towards the half-mile mark.
In no particular hurry, the Nelson Willis trainee continued to move up on the outside and was just off the pace setting Hammer Head after middle splits of 1:00.1 and 1:30.
Turning it on with an eighth of a mile to go, the gelded son of Photo Color went right by the leader and was under wraps as he cruised through the wire with his third win in eight career starts. Hammer Head held on for second while Powerful JD (Dale Hiteman) turned a nice ground saving trip into a third place check. Also moving on to the final were Anthony Skywalker, Fox Valley Arrow, Matter Of Guilt and Itz Alive.
(Balmoral Park)