For Immediate Release
Contact: Jim Miller (708) 780-3700
Night of Champions Closes Successful Hawthorne Meet
STICKNEY, IL – The best in the state of Illinois gathered on
closing weekend as 11 stakes races were contested on Hawthorne’s Night of
Champions. The Hawthorne meet faced its
challenges as it opened on February 15 and raced for four weeks before being
halted due to the pandemic. After a two
and a half month break, guidelines were implemented for a safe return to racing
on June 6. Despite spectators not being
allowed on-track, added interest in racing through ADW outlets and additional
races added led to a 34% increase in average daily handle compared to 2019.
The
summer meet was capped with great performances on Night of Champions as the
best in the state competed for nearly $1 million in purses. A look back at the Night of Champions finals:
THE
$68,000 ROBERT S MOLARO MEMORIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Jim Ballinger’s Fox Valley Gemini did
it again. For the second year in a row, Fox Valley Gemini, trained by
Terry Leonard, won the Robert S Molaro Memorial
Championship for 3-year-old and up pacers. Guided to the winner’s circle by
Casey Leonard, the meet’s leading driver with 130 victories, Fox Valley Gemini
tracked pacesetting Al’s Hammered through the first
three quarters but assumed control approaching the far turn and drew off to a
five and a quarter length victory. Al’s Hammered held for second, narrowly
holding off Bass Player.
Fox Valley Gemini, bred by Fox Valley
Standardbreds, got the mile in 150.1 after fractions of :27.4,
:55.3 and 1:23.
Fox Valley Gemini $2.20 $2.10 $2.10
Al’s Hammered $2.80
$2.60
Bass Player $6.40
With the $34,000 earned for the
victory, Fox Valley Gemini’s career earnings stand at $485,468.
THE
$88,000 FOX VALLEY FLAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Loulita,
the 1-9 favorite, left little to doubt in her easy victory in Saturday’s Fox
Valley Flan Championship for ICF 2-year-old filly trotters. Driven by Casey Leonard
and trained by Steven Searle, this talented filly won for the sixth time
in nine starts. Bred by Flacco Family Farms and owned
by Flacco Family Farms and Dr. Patrick Graham, Loulita raced in third early but took the lead
midway on the backstretch and was never challenged after that; ultimately
winning by four lengths. Myonly Sin came on
late to finish second with Breeze At Sunset
getting up for third.
After fractions of
:30.0, 1:00.1, and 1:29.4 Loulita got
the mile in a lifetime best of 1:59.2.
Loulita earned
$44,000 for the victory, boosting her lifetime earnings to $93,609.
Loulita
$2.20 $2.10 $2.10
Myonly Sin
$3.30 $2.20
Breeze At Sunset
$4.20
THE
$80,000 INCREDIBLE TILLIE CHAMPIONSHIP
The Incredible Tillie Championship, for
ICF 2-year-old filly pacers, provided one of the few surprises on The Night of
Champions. Bootsy Bombay, though not a real “surprise”
did go off as the third choice in the wagering. Despite starting from post 10, Bootsy Bombay went right for the lead, relinquished it on
the backstretch but never dropped further back than second. She reclaimed the
lead late to win by three quarters. Favored Scorecard Dandy got second while it
was another length and a quarter back to Princess Mooss.
Owned by James Greer, trained by Nick
Prather and driven by Travis Seekman, Bootsy Bombay, bred by Fair Meadow Farm,
generated a new lifetime best 1:56.2 after fractions of :29.3, :58.3 and
1:27.2.
For the victory, the second of her
young career, she earned $40,000. Her earnings now stand at $60,403.
Bootsy
Bombay $12.40 $4.60 $2.40
Scorecard Dandy $2.60 $2.20
Princess Mooss
$2.20
THE
$67,000 PLESAC CHAMPIONSHIP
Owner and breeder Flacco
Family Farms LLC and trainer Steve Searle wasted little time finding themselves
back in the winner’s circle as two races after Loutlita
scored for them, it was Lousraptor
pulling off the upset in the Plesac for ICF aged
trotters. Driven by Juan Franco, Lousraptor sat mid-pack early as favored Annas Lucky Star carved out the fractions. Rallying through the stretch, Lousraptor blew by the competition winning by nearly three
lengths. Searle trained longshot Louscardamon closed
to finish second at 25-1 while 36-1 Cruzen Cassi came
on late to finish third.
After chasing fractions of :27.3, :57.1, and 1:26.2, Lousraptor
won in 1:54.3. The four-year-old gelding earned $33,500 for his victory.
Lousraptor
$7.40 $5.20 $3.60
Louscardamon
$16.20 $15.40
Cruzen
Cassi $30.80
THE
$98,000 BEULAH DYGERT MEMORIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Another race with another slight upset
as 7-2 third choice El oh Govner was able to score in
the Beulah Dygert Memorial trot for ICF
three-year-old fillies. With Marcus
Miller in town to drive, El Oh Govner rated off the
pace which was set by 3-5 favorite Lous Abigail. Tipping out in the turn, El Oh Govner was able to sustain her rally, winning by a length
and a quarter. 51-1 longshot Celone Hall got up for second while Bee See was game in finishing
third.
Owned by Donald and Sharri
Huddleston, bred by Elmer Kaufman and trained by Mike Rogers, El Oh Govner chased fractions of :29.1, :58.2, and 1:28.0 before
winning in 1:57.4. He earned $49,000 for
his win.
El Oh Govner
$9.60 $5.40 $4.00
Celone
Hall $30.80 $14.00
Bee See $4.60
Marcus Miller, El Oh Govner, “Mike (Rogers) told me that she was going to be
really good tonight if I could just work out a clean trip and have a lane in
the stretch and he was spot on. I wanted to get away somewhat close and just
give her a rattle. It worked out just the way I was hoping. As
soon as we straightened out, she stepped off on her own and I
was pretty confident, she did the rest.”
THE $109,000 ERWIN F. DYGERT MEMORIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Leading driver Casey Leonard was back
in the winner’s circle for his third time on the Night of Champions card as he
guided Fox Valley Quest to a wire to wire victory in the Erwin F. Dygert Memorial trot for ICF three-year-old males. Leaving for the lead as the 3-2 second
choice, Fox Valley Quest led every step, winning by a length and a half over
4-5 favorite Crooked Creek. On Higher Ground closed to finish third.
Bred by Fox Valley Standardbreds, owned
by Carl Lacy and Benita Simmons and trained by Tom Simmons, Fox Valley Quest
won with fractions of :29.2, :58.2, 1:26.4 and 1:55.0. He earned $54,500 for his victory.
Fox Valley Quest $5.00 $2.40 $2.10
Crooked Creek $2.40 $2.10
On Higher Ground $2.40
THE
$118,000 KADABRA CHAMPIONSHIP
Making just four lifetime starts and
winning for the first time in his career the week prior, Fistfullofdollars
impressed in his Kadabra win, for ICF male juvenile
trotters. Trained by
the meet’s leading trainer Mike Brink, who won 48 races, Fistfullofdollars
sat behind the pace which was set by longshots Loyz
Say When and Mystical Murray. He
cruised by in the stretch to win by three and a half lengths. Kyle Wilfong, who
finished second in the driver standings with 120 wins on the meet, guided Fistfullofdollars to the winning score. Mystical Murray finished second at 25-1 while
13-1 shot Loyz Say When held third.
Fistfullofdollars
was bred by Flacco Family Farms and is owned in
partnership by Mike Brink, Darin Tournear, Jeffrey
Clauson, and Mark Brown. He earned
$59,000 for his victory. After chasing
fractions of :30.1, 1:00.4, and 1:31.4, Fistfullofdollars won in 2:01.3.
Fistfullofdollars
$6.40 $4.20 $3.00
Mystical Murray $14.40 $6.20
Loyz
Say When $5.40
Trainer Mike Brink on Fistfullofdollars, “He had an injury early, it happened in
his stall, and we kind of had to wait on him. He was a nice horse before that
happened. It was a freak accident, but we just had to wait on him. I wasn’t
even sure if we could make it. The horse has a lot of talent and he’s smart. I
told Kyle last week to just tighten him up, get a better feel of him and make
him trot a little faster. He did and it worked out fine.”
When asked about how he handled the
break due to the pandemic with a large stable, “It has been confusing. We had
things ready to go when we shut down and had to back everything back down. We
had to back the babies back down. And we didn’t really know when we were going
to get started back up again. Because of the help, the blacksmith and
everybody’s patience, we waited until the time was right, started back up and it’s
been working out.”
THE
$71,000 INCREDIBLE FINALE CHAMPIONSHIP
Driver Marcus Miller made his trip to
Chicago more than worthwhile, grabbing his second win on the card, this time
with Erv Miller trained Well Basically. The 4-5 favorite in the Incredible Finale for
ICF two-year-old male pacers, Well Basically went right to the top and never
looked back, winning by two and a quarter lengths. Frontier Charley rallied from his outside
draw to finish second while Partyatmosasplace was
third.
Bred in partnership by William Hook and
Chicago Ag High School and owned by Anthony Lombardi and Engel Stable of IL
LLC, Well Basically won through fractions of :29.2, :59.4, 1:29.0 and
1:56.1. He earned $35,500 for the score.
Well Basically $3.80 $2.40 $2.10
Frontier Charley $2.80 $2.40
Partyatmosasplace
$5.00
THE
$86,000 ROBERT F CAREY JR. MEMORIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The heaviest favorite of the night didn’t
disappoint as 1-9 shot He’zzz A
Wise Sky won on Night of Champions for the second straight year, taking the
Robert F. Carey, Jr. Memorial for ICF three-year-old male pacers. Driven once again by Robert Smolin, He’zzz A
Wise Sky immediately cleared the lead and won easily by three and a quarter
lengths. Western Perch was a game
second, chasing the entire way, while Ryans Ambassador
closed to finish third.
Owned by Triple Zzz
Stable and bred in partnership by trainer Don Filomeno
along with Joann Filomeno, He’zzz
A Wise Sky earned $43,000 for the win. He set
fractions of :28.2, :57,1, and 1:24.4 while winning in
1:51.3.
He’zzz
A Wise Sky $2.20 $2.10 $2.10
Western Perch $3.40 $2.40
Ryans
Ambassador $3.40
THE
$108,000 PLUM PEACHY CHAMPIONSHIP
The meet’s leading winner of races with
eight victories from nine starts for $121,880 on the meet was Fox Valley
Exploit for owners David Brigham and Kyle Husted. Trained and driven by Husted, Fox Valley
Exploit had to work in the Plum Peachy for three-year-old filly pacers after
drawing post nine. Confidently handled
by Husted, the even money favorite was kept in the clear, opening up into the
lane and winning by a comfortable two and three quarters lengths. Harper raced well to finish second while
111-1 shot Castielle held third.
Bred by Fox Valley Standardbreds, Fox
Valley Exploit chased early fractions of :28.1 and :57.0 before taking over and
passing three quarters in 1:25.0 before crossing the wire in 1:53.2. She earned $54,000 for her win.
Fox Valley Exploit $4.00 $2.60 $2.20
Harper $5.20 $4.40
Castielle
$17.20
THE
$68,000 TONY MAURELLO MEMORIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The final race on the Night of Champions card saw a strong
performance as breeder Fox Valley Standardbreds capped a fine night as Allbeastnobeauty scored in the Maurello
for aged female pacers. Driven and
trained by Todd Warren, Allbeastnobeauty settled
behind a contested early pace before closing swiftly in the stretch to win by
two lengths. Lilly Von Shtupp stalked the pace and held second, followed by last
year’s Maurello winner Skeeter
Machine, who was a game third.
Owned by Brookside Stables and Keith Ravis,
Allbeastnobeauty chased fractions of
:28.0, :55.2, and 1:24.2 before winning 1:51.2. She earned $34,000 for her victory.
Allbeastnobeauty $3.20 $2.40 $2.10
Lilly Von Shtupp $4.20 $3.00
Skeeter Machine $3.20
Hawthorne Race Course, Chicago’s Hometown Track, returned
for live harness racing on Saturday, February 15 and raced through Sunday,
September 20. Fall thoroughbreds close out the year, running from October 2 through
December 27. For more information, visit
www.Hawthorneracecourse.com or
contact Hawthorne at 708-780-3700.
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