Former Illinois champion She’s So Hot (Dave Magee), shown here winning the 2007 Broadway Tax Final at Hawthorne, will have her two-year-old daughter You Can Never Tell debut for trainer Herman Wheeler Saturday at Du Quoin. (Four Footed Fotos)

By Mike Paradise for the IHHA

Memorial Day is behind us, and June is here. With the arrival of the new month comes the debut of two-year-old racing in Illinois.

A number of those ICF babies who are ready to begin their first competition on a racetrack will go the starting gate Saturday afternoon on the Du Quoin mile oval in the Spring Preview for state-bred freshmen of both sexes and gaits.

The first of seven events will go off at one o’clock. Each of the filly and colt trots, along with the freshmen colt divisions, were split into two events. Three splits were needed for the filly pace.

 
The pacing colt divisions, races eight and nine on the card, has some interesting first-time starters competing.

Veteran Illinois trainer Tom Simmons will interduce the Somestarsomewhere gelding Fox Valley Ramiro (pp 7), a $16,500 purchase. He’s out of the Western Hanover mare Pacific Sister K which makes him a full brother to Simmons well-regarded three-year-old state bred Fox Valley Cayman, a Cardinal division winner in his first season.

Pacific Sister K also gave us such past successful Illinois stake horses as Mystical MJ (1:51.1, $317,139), Earndawg (1:51 flat, $367,325) and Fox Valley Triton (1:53, $141,251).

Three other sons of Somestartsomewhere are also in the seven-horse event—Guitar Man (Juan Franco), a $20,000 purchase, You Can Never Tell (Herman Wheeler), who sold for $43,000, and Some Beach Rollin (JD Lewis), bought for $20,000 by trainer Roshun Trigg.

The colt first division starter You Can Never Tell is out of the former Illinois champion mare She’s So Hot who dominated the prairie state freshman filly pacing division in 2007 under the care of trainer Rick Schrock, winning 10 of 13 events, sweeping the Broadway Tax stake series at Hawthorne, the Springfield State Fair events, and both the Violet elimination and final at Maywood Park.

In the second colt split Simmons sends out both Frontier Dawson and Fox Valley York. The latter is by Time To Roll, out of the broodmare Roll With Jodi. The $24,000 yearling purchase is a half-brother to Fox Valley Steeler, who made almost $45,000 for Simmons as a two-year-old.

The Springfield based conditioner also has Frontier Dawson in the race. The Somestarsomewhere offspring is the first foal of the Yankee Skyscraper mare Mystical Danica, a Time Dancer stake winner at Du Quoin ten years ago when she made over $100,000 as a 2 and 3-year-old for trainer Erv Miller.

Also bowing Saturday afternoon are two of the first crop of pacers sired by former Illinois champion Unlocked—the filly First Of Her Name (race five) and the colt Enrico Pallazzo (race nine). The Nelson Willis trained youngsters will be driven by Juan Franco for the Megan Rogers Racing Stable of Chicago, their breeders, and owners.

Unlocked was retired from racing in 2019 after a brilliant seven season career thar saw the Duneside Perch pacer collect over $610,000 in purse earnings, win numerous ICF stake championships, pace a 1:49 flat mile at The Meadows, and garner a number of post season awards.

Next Up: An extended eight-week non-wagering meet on the two Illinois State Fair racetracks gets under way on Thursday, June 8th and Friday, June 9th at Du Quoin. The two-day-a-week meeting moves to Springfield on June 15th and 16th and remains at the State Fairgrounds through July 28th.

The IHHA has partnered with “Trot n Pace Marketing” to televise all 19 days of racing, which includes Saturday’s juvenile Preview.

Oops: Your author mistakenly left out Illinois trotting guru Gerry Hansen when we listed last week the Illinois based conditioners, and residents, who have achieved 1,000 or more trainer wins. At last count Gerry had 1,503. . . and there’s much more to come.