A Unique Driving Double the Hard Way

By Mike Paradise
When veteran Pennsylvania driver Jim Pantaleano steered Dr. Drake Ramoray to his victory in the first Robert F. Carey Memorial stake Saturday night at Hawthorne he most likely did something that hasn’t been accomplished before—winning a five-figure race with ICF pacers on the same day, at two different racetracks, hundreds of miles apart.
Pantaleano drove the now 5-year-old former Super Night champ Unlocked to his 1:51.2 victory in the $20,000 Preferred Pace at The Meadows in western Pennsylvania for the Megan Rogers Stable around 11 am Chicago time Saturday.

Dr Drake Ramoray (Jim Pantaleano) captured the first Robert F. Carey Memorial stake split. (Four Footed Photo)

Dr Drake Ramoray (Jim Pantaleano) captured the first Robert F. Carey Memorial stake split. (Four Footed Photo)

Some 10-plus hours later the 54-year-old Ohio native won the first ICF 3-year-old Robert F Carey stake division split for the same Chicago owners with Dr. Drake Ramoray, named after a character played by actor Matt LaBlanc (Joey Tribbiani) on the long-time No. 1 TV comedy show “Friends.”
Norm Parker trains both Unlocked and Dr. Drake Ramoray.
Pantaleano hustled Dr. Drake Ramoray ($5.20) away from the outside 8-slot into the three-hole in the early going but didn’t wait long to seek and get to the front. The Duneside Perch gelding took the field to a 57.3 half and had plenty left for the stretch drive, drawing away to a winning 1:53.4 mile.
Holdonwe’rerolling got up for second, beaten some two-plus lengths by the 8-5 favorite. Chloe’s Princess hung tough for third.
 Dan D Dune (Casey Leonard) rallied strong to win the second Carey division. (Four Footed Photo)

Dan D Dune (Casey Leonard) rallied strong to win the second Carey division. (Four Footed Photo)

The second Carey split saw last year’s ICF freshman colt champion Dan D Dune (Casey Leonard) come up with his best race thus far in his sophomore season.
The Nelson Willis trained 3-year-old, saddled with the outside nine-hole, spent the early portion of the race in seventh and was fourth over when the 6-5 favorite Royal Rose sped to a 57.1 half.
However, Casey was getting live cover for Dan D Dune from the second-over BS Tyriffic. By the time Royale Rose got to the three quarters, Dan D Dune found another gear and was flying in the middle of the track and gobbling up ground with every stride.
In the last sixteenth Dan D Dune ($10.00), the third choice in the wagering, zipped past the leader and ended up almost three the best with his 1:53 flat mile. Royale Rose had to settle for second, with IYQ QYR taking third..
Dan D Dune, the 2015 Orange and Blue Colt champion, put over $120,000 on his fi6sr season card for Nelson’s wife Cynthia Kay Willis, owner of the gelding. Saturday’s Carey triumph was the pacer’s first in eight tries in 2016.

BS Tyriffic Looking for Some Help from Lady Luck

By Mike Paradise
The fastest winning mile among the 17 sophomore pacers in Saturday’s two $15,000 divisions of the Robert Carey Memorial stake series for 3-year-old ICF male pacers isn’t likely to be a betting favorite in his split.
BS Tyriffic hasn’t gone off as the favorite in any start this year in a state-bred division race nevertheless he’s been right there in just about every outing against them and with some better racing luck he could have added to his season total of two wins.
“His trips this year haven’t worked out in the big races,” said his driver Kyle Wilfong. “It did work out in the Cardinal elimination two weeks ago. He got a beautiful two-hole trip.
“It seems in the stake finals he draws badly, he has to race first over or he gets blocked. He seems to be a bad-luck horse in the finals.”

  BS Tyriffic (Kyle Wilfong) yes a victory in a Carey stake division tonight. (R E B Photo)

BS Tyriffic (Kyle Wilfong) yes a victory in a Carey stake division tonight. (R E B Photo)

BS Tyriffic hasn’t missed a check in an ICF race this year and as a 2-year-old he won a Balmoral Hanover, a Springfield Review and his Orange and Blue elimination. The pacer’s worse finish was third in the O&B Blue final. Poor racing luck was the reason.
“I was sitting behind the favorite on Super Night but he tired in the lane and I got stuck behind him. If my horse gets out, we would have won that big race.”
BS Tyriffic’s Cardinal elimination win was a quick 1:52 flat mile, faster than any horse in either of the Carey divisions have paced thus far.
“I’m not surprised,” continued Kyle. “He’s the fastest ICF 3-year-old I’ve been behind this year and I’ve driven some of the others. From a sixteenth to an eighth of a mile I don’t think there’s a horse in his division that can out-sprint him.
“BS Tyriffic may not always be the best horse in a race but he always gives you a big effort. He’s very handy. He can leave, he sits good. He does everything right. He just needs some better racing luck in these stakes.”
Unsurprisingly the Bob Sanders trained 3-year-old drew into the much tougher second division of the Carey Saturday where he’ll have to take down last year’s IF 2-year-old champion Dan D Dune (pp 10, Casey Leonard), Carey first leg winner Royale Rose (pp Matt Krueger), Cardinal champion Goindude (pp 6, Travis Seekman) and ITQ YQR (pp 4, Trenton Watson), also a first round Carey victor.
Caffeine Kid (pp 1, Dale Hiteman) another earlier Carey leg winner, Impressive Art (pp 3, Jared Finn). Fox Valley Eli (pp 7, Kyle Husted) and Red Dog Ryan (Ridge Warren) complete the seventh race field.
The Bob Rittof Stable’s Holdonwe’rerolling, another first leg Carey champion, is the fifth race first Carey division favorite (3-2 in my line); Todd Warren will guide him away from the seven-slot in the right horse field.
Posts one through six will be manned by JB’s Hero (Bobby Smolin), Bowedfortyova (Kyle Husted), He Gone Jack (Dale Hiteman) Chlo’s Richess Pat Curtin) and Whatdoesthefoxsay (Jerome Daniels).. Dr Drake Ramoray (Jim Pantaleano) who spent the month of July in Pennsylvania has the outside 8-post.
  Whiskeronkittens (Todd Warren) made it look easy in her Fridsay night division of the Plum Peachy Stake. (Four Footed Photo)

Whiskeronkittens (Todd Warren) made it look easy in her Fridsay night division of the Plum Peachy Stake. (Four Footed Photo)

Much the Best: Friday night’s two $15,000 third leg divisions of the Plum Peach stakes for ICF3-year-old fillies went as expected with first Whiskersonkittens and then Char N Marg, a couple of overwhelming favorites, dominating their respective splits
Whiskersonkittens was pushed going into the first turn by Bucklegirl Bobette before her driver Kyle Wilfong took the pocket behind the overwhelming 1 to 9 favorite. Todd Warren grabbed a hold of Whiskeronkittens and with no challengers she coasted to a 59.2 half.
In fact the first filly to tip out and go after the leader was the pocket horse Bucklegirl Bobette in the final turn but when she came alongside Whiskersokittens looked her in the eye and then went bye-bye, pulling away with a 27 flat quarter enroute to her 1:55.2 mile.
The battle for second went to Lexington Lady with Narcissistic coming on for third.
Trained by Kim Roth for owner Ronald Knupp of Anna, Illinois, Whiskersonkittens has now notched four victories in her second season.
It was just as easy for Char N Marg ($2.20) in the sixth race second division.
Casey Leonard urged her away from the six-slot and the Nelson Willis trained filly steadily worked her way to the front before the first quarter was reached in 28.2. After a slow 30 second quarter this race was basically over as Char N Marg drew away by almost eight lengths going to the final turn before she was reeled-in by the field.
When that happen Casey let her out a notch in the lane and Char N Marg ended up a comfortable four length winner in 1:55.2 and stayed unbeaten in 2016 against other ICF 3-year-old fillies for Quaid Racing of Chicago, Illinois.
Ashlee’s Fine Lady finished nicely and was second best while third place honors went to LK’s Nancy Lee.

What You Saw Isn’t What You Got

By Mike Paradise
The idiom “What You See Is What You Get” doesn’t always apply in some cases. For example the original field posted a couple of days ago for Friday $15,000 Plum Peachy stake for ICF 3-year-old fillies didn’t materialize.
I went to sleep Tuesday night after handicapping a single 11-horse series field with the division’s dominant filly Char N Mark in the 10-hole. A few hours after I woke up I learned there was a Race Office snafu when Bucklegirl Bobette was erroneously put in a different race than her connections wanted, a start in the Plum Peachy.
Mistakes happen. I’ve certainly made my share and I’m sure I’ll make more.
Also, redraws for a horse not entered in the right race has been going on long before I came around and they’ll continue when I’m gone.
As far as Friday’s Plum Peachy draw blunder the racetrack had two options. They could have redrawn the race with 12 horses or they could have split the race into a pair of six horse divisions.
They chose the latter.
I’m sure the connections of the six fillies in the first division are very happy their horses don’t have to take on Char N Marg tonight and still have a $15,000 pot to shoot for. There may not be any frowns on the faces of the owners and trainers of the five fillies who will tangle with Char N Marg. They’ll face her in a small field with only one horse to beat to pick-up the $750 fifth place check.

  Char N Marg (Casey Leonard) looks to continue her domination tonight. (Four Footed Photo)

Char N Marg (Casey Leonard) looks to continue her domination tonight. (Four Footed Photo)

Char N Marg drew the outside race six slot but with only five foes that isn’t much of a concern. The filly has been dominant against other ICF fillies in her division for Quaid Racing of Chicago and will necessitate No Show Wagering on her race.
The Nelson Willis trainee will still be a prohibitive favorite (I’ve got her at 1 to 5) to make it four in a row with regular driver Casey Leonard and go 4-for-4 against other 3-year-olds.
The Sportsmaster filly out of the Jate Lobell dam Zip Up Your Pants has won 6 of 9 starts this season with her only losses coming against open company pacers. Her closest winning margin against ICF fillies was in the Violet Final two weeks ago when he was best by 2 and 1/2 lengths and eased up near the wire.
Char N Mark won her first leg of the Plum Peachy by six widening lengths. She blew away the field by five-plus lengths in a second leg division in early July and a week later was ahead by a half-dozen lengths in her violet elimination.
Ronald Knupp’s Whiskersonkittens is my top choice the first Plum Peachy division. The Kim Roth trainee raced in the rugged filly and mare Open Pace the last two starts against older mares and performed well with a second and a third place finish.
Whiskersonkittens (pp 2, Todd Warren) swept a Late Closer Series during Hawthorne’s winter meet back in January. Her challengers are Likeafireballshot (Jared Finn), Narcissistic (Pat Curtin), Bucklegirl Bobette (Kyle Wilfong), Lexington Lady (Bobby Smolin) and Fox Valley Gypsy (James Lackey).
  Hail Caesar was much the best with Casey Leonard in last night's Dygert male trotting stake. (Four Footed Photo)

Hail Caesar was much the best with Casey Leonard in last night’s Dygert male trotting stake. (Four Footed Photo)

Easy Does It: The Mike Brink Stable’s Hail Caesar ($3.60) moved to the head of the class in the 3-year-old ICF male trot division with a convincing 4 and 1/2 length victory in last night’s $15,000 Erwin F. Dygert Memorial stake.
Driver Casey Leonard sent the Powerful Emotion gelding out from the seven-slot and dropped him into third as first Primed N Powerful and then Fear took turns taking the field to a 57.4 first half.
When Primed N Powerful came out of the pocket in the last turn Casey followed him up with Hail Caesar. By mid-stretch the outcome of the race wasn’t in doubt as Hail Caesar pulled away to his third win in a row for his Morton, Illinois owner Bill Wright.
Wrightwood came a long way to get second, one length ahead of Primed N Powerful.
The Beulah Dygert Memorial stake for filly trotters also turned out to be a one-sided affair as Vengeful took the $12,000 event by more than five lengths with regular driver Todd Warren.
Getting to the top didn’t come easy for the Kenny Collier trained filly and Vengeful ($5.00) had to fight off a number of challengers before posting a 1:57.4 winning mile for Providence West Inc. of Media, Pennsylvania.
Surviver DI settled for the bridesmaid honors while More Than Likely was third, beaten about 10 lengths.

Dygert Filly Trot Always a Toss-Up

By Mike Paradise
We’re down to single divisions of the third legs for ICF 3-year-old trotters in the Dygert stake series and what the first two rounds have shown us, there is no stick-out in the filly stake.
We’ve had a different winner in each of the two divisions raced in the first two legs with Rockinprincvessabbie and Roma Falls the Beulah Dygert filly events in round one and Surviver DI and More Than Likely posting victories in the second legs.
All four fillies will again slug it out in Thursday’s seventh race filly stake with an 11-horse field. Fox Valley Bugatti will start in the second tier.
The post time favorite could be a filly that has yet to win a leg of the Beulah Dygert and that would be the Kenny Collier Stable’s Vengeful (Todd Warren). She was second in both series starts and then breezed in her Violet elimination before ending up third in the final.
Vengeful is in a good spot to get to the front with the two post but the recent Violet champion Surviver DI (Kyle Husted) looks very threatening with the pole position and she’s back in a winning m mood.

Dygert filly hopeful Surviver DI (Kyle Husted) has 26 wins in less than two years of racing. (Four Footed Photo)

Dygert filly hopeful Surviver DI (Kyle Husted) has 26 wins in less than two years of racing. (Four Footed Photo)

Last year the Band’s Gold Chip filly posted a national best 18 wins for a 2-year-old trotting filly and they came on 17 different race tracks when Surviver DI campaigned throughout the Midwest fair tracks for owner Steve Renard of Hamilton, Illinois.
After dropping her first seven contests as a 3-year-old she went back to the fairs and won five races and came back to Hawthorne full of confidence and it showed when she captured a June 30 division of the Dygert for trainer Steve Searle.
Thursdays draw wasn’t kind to the other Dygert filly winners. Roma Falls (Matt Krueger) has the eight, More Than Likely (Kyle Wilfong) the nine and Rockinprincessabbie (Juan Franco) the 10-hole.
They’ll be challenged by Ryleigh Marie (Ryan Anderson), Fox Valley Mirage (Bobby Smolin), Shez A Devil Woman (Frank Petrelli), Praise Singer (Ridge Warren) and Fox Valley Bugatti (Freddie Patton Jr.).
A race earlier is the third leg of the Erwin F. Dygert for ICF males with Fear going after a third consecutive Dygert stake series triumph for trainer Kenny Collier. However, the gelding was second best behind the Mike Brink Stable’s Hail Caesar (Casey Leonard) in the Cardinal Final.
Hail Caesar (pp 7) has four wins in nine tries in 2016 and three of those have come in his last four outings for his Morton, IL owner Bill Wright. His $25,275 season bankroll is tops in the 10-horse sixth race field.
With Fear and Hail Caesar figuring to get most of the betting dollars the Freddie Patton Stable’s Primed N Powerful could offer inviting wagering value. He’s a four-time winner this year and was second in his last Dygert Series start. Plus he drew nicely with the two-slot.
Looking to pull off a surprise in the colt stake are Buddy Pest (Gary Rath), Wrightwood (Matt Krueger), Storm Winds (Mike Rogers), Bands Ariston (Jamaica Patton), Mr. Strata (Kyle Wilfong), PJ Boy (Ridge Waeeen) and Powerful Father (Pat Curtin).

The Heat Is On

By Mike Paradise
To borrow the title from one of my favorite songs of the mid-1980’s “The Heat Is On.”
In this case it’s happening both on and off the Hawthorne racetrack.
Sultry, and at times roasting weather has become the norm in the Chicago area and for some owners of ICF 3-year-olds trotters and pacers, they are sweating even more for a big performance from their horses that would vault them into a starting berth of Tournament of Champions Night on Saturday, September 10.
Its leg three this week for both the sophomore trotters and pacers, so time is indeed running out to make a championship appearance.
Thursday night the 3-year-old state-bred trotters will slug it out in a pair of divisions of the Dygert, the Erwin for “the boys” and the Beulah for “the gals.”
They’ll go in back-to-back races, the sixth and seventh, with the colts and geldings going first. The filly Dygert will have a bulky 11-horse field with the two likely favorites Surviver DI and Vengeful leaving from the favorable one and two posts, in that order,
On Friday the Plum Peachy stake series for sophomore filly pacers is on tap with a single 11-horse division. Recent Violet champ Char N Marg sits on top the Plum Peach Standings with 100 points after victories in the first and second legs for Quaid Racing of Chicago.
Saturday night the state-bred second season pacing colts and geldings will take over the spotlight. The first two legs were split into two divisions each and a different pacer prevailed in each: Holdonwe’rerolling and Caffeine Kid in the first and Royale Rose and IYQ YQR in the second.

 Seeyouatthefinish (Kyle Husted) won another filly and mare Open Sunday. (Four Footed Photo)

Seeyouatthefinish (Kyle Husted) won another filly and mare Open Sunday. (Four Footed Photo)

Securing the Top Spots: The 5-year-old mare Seeyouatthefinish and the 10-year-old horse Mr. Coolie have fortified the top spot in their respective divisions after convincing victories last Sunday.
Seeyouatthefinish (Kyle Husted) 1:54.1 mile on a “good” track was her seventh in 14 season outings for Deb and Bernie Paul of Salem, Illinois. Three of those triumphs have come in the track’s Opens and another in a $17,600 Late Closer Series Final back on May 20.
Mr. Coolie (1:54.1) teamed-up with driver Sam Widger Sunday evening for the veteran pacer’s third consecutive Open Pace for trainer John Zawistowski and owner Wolf Creek Farm of Naperville, Illinois.
In his last two Open wins Mr. Coolie has overcome the handicapped 10-hole and he had the 7-slot in a 9-horse field in the first of his three first place finishes in July.

And Then There Were Two

By Mike Paradise
Freshman pacers Gabe Henry and Sporty Redhot stayed perfect in the $15,000 Incredible Finale Pacing Series for ICF 2-year-old pacing males with third leg victories. Both youngsters were driven by Todd Warren.

 Gabe Henry (Todd Warren) stayed perfect in the Incredible Finale Series. (Four Footed Photo)

Gabe Henry (Todd Warren) stayed perfect in the Incredible Finale Series. (Four Footed Photo)

Gabe Henry’s third consecutive victory came at the expense of Fox Valley Jeter who won his first two series legs but Sunday night had to settle for second behind the Tom Graham Jr. trained home-bred owned by Carol Graham of Salem, Illinois.
Gabe Henry ($3.60) was nestled into fifth in the early going in the third race initial series leg with Sork taking the field to a 29 first quarter and a 57.4 half. Warren had Gabe Henry on the move on the backside and when Fox Valley Sparty popped out of the pocket, Warren followed that horse up for the stretch drive.
Once there Gabe Henry pulled away to almost a two length victory of Fox Valley Jeter with a 1:57.1 clocking on a sloppy track. Fox Valley Sparta finished third.
 Sporty Redhot (Todd Warren) lived up to his name again Sunday night. (Four Footed Photo)

Sporty Redhot (Todd Warren) lived up to his name again Sunday night. (Four Footed Photo)

In the next division Warren Hustled the prohibitive 2-5 favorite Sporty Redhot out at the start taking a quick lead before giving it up to the 15-1 longshot Spirited Encounter in the first turn.
Warren was satisfied to race Sporty Redhot in the two-hole through fractions of 29.1 and 58 flat before tipping his pacer out in the last turn. In the lane Sporty Redhot ($2.80) powered into the lead and then dug in to give his trainer Kim Roth a Happy Birthday present, this one a 1:56.4 winning mile.
The 45-1 longshot Fox Valley Reggie grabbed second, beaten a half-length. Fox Valley Inferno was third.
The unbeaten Sporty Redhot is owned by Al Beals of Berwyn, Illinois and now has $20,000 on his first season card.
A few races later the track was changed to “good” when the Joel Smith trained Fox Valley Nemitz ($9.60) proved best in the third $15,000 Incredible Finale division for driver Dale Hiteman in a 1:57.2 mile.
Owned by Fox Valley Standardbreds of Sherman, Illinois, the son of Richess Hanover rallied past the favorite Sullivan and posted a three-quarter length triumph. Uptown Sleaze was third.
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