By Mike Paradise

Illinois conceived and foaled 2-year-olds will take over the public’s attention this week at the Hawthorne summer meet beginning with Thursday night.

The first leg of the Fox Valley Flan stake series for juvenile trotting fillies enticed 13 entries and was split into two $12,500 divisions. The initial leg of the Kadabra for trotting colts and geldings attracted the same. They’ll go as the first four races on Thursday’s program.

It’s very early in the 2-year-old. There will be three more Fox Valley Flan and Kadabra legs contested, before the top 10 point earners are established for the estimated $100,000 finals on the September 22nd Night of Champions.

Nevertheless, the recent Violet and Cardinal results indicate that division winners Heidi High and Encantado in the filly section and Fox Valley Picaso, along with recent winner Hawthorne Prince Cassis, are among the colt and gelding Night of Champions nominees already appearing to be major contenders on the march towards Hawthorne’s showcase evening of the meet.

Heidi High has breezed in her first two starts for her owner, trainer and driver Charles Arthur and landing the pole position in the first Fox Valley Flan split should see her go right to the front again. She’s been in 1:59.1 twice and won her Violet division by almost five lengths.

Looking to overtake the New Balance filly will be: Skippymalou (Juan Franco), Lous Mistress (Tim Curtin), Puddin Cheeks (Jared Finn), Pizza Maker (Casey Leonard), E L Game On (Kyle Wilfong) and Lous Scion Lou (Ronnie Gillespie).

The Jim Eaton stable’s Encantado (Kyle Husted), certainly came out ready for her debut when she was the best in her Violet split. The filly left from the 8-slot in a 9-horse field in her June 17 debut. Tonight she moves inside to the three.

Friday I’m In Love (Casey Leonard), from the always strong trotting division of the Mike Brink stable, was second to Encantado in their first match-up, beaten less than one length. The filly should get plenty of play tonight with the meet’s leading driver back at her lines.

The other second Fox Valley Flan split hopefuls are: Joe Joe’s Violet (Juan Franco), Loussolataire (Kyle Wilfong), Christie K (Tim Curtin), Louzotic (Steve Searle) and Notanangel (Travis Seekman).

Cardinal champion Fox Valley Picaso (Casey Leonard), was hammered down to 1 to 5 in his 2:01.2 winning debut after an impressive 2:00.1 in Hawthorne qualifier two weeks earlier. With the one-post again, in the first Kadabra division, the Herman Wheeler freshman will probably go off as a prohibitive favorite, when he takes on five first season foes in the Thursday opener.

Rusty Red Valor (Tim Curtin), Frontier Manard (Freddie Patton Jr.), Captainblacksparrow (Kyle Wilfong), first-time starter Crackerjack Bill (Jared Finn) and Lous Endeavor (Ronnie Gillespie) are Fox Valley Picaso’s opponents.

The third race second Kadabra division will see the Brink’s stable’s Prince Cassis (Casey Leonard), at 4-5 first flash odds after his sharp winning debut four nights ago, coming home in 28.1.

The Cardinal third place finisher Foxvalleyrushhour (pp3, Kyle Husted), is listed at 4-, followed at 9-2 by the first time starter Trixie’s Turbo (Jared Finn), and trained by Heather Stell.

Trixie’s Turbo is out of the broodmare Tropical Trixie, making him the younger brother of past ICF multi-stake champion Captain Greedy (1:55.4), and current the Hawthorne trotter Trixie’s Jethro.

The third race Kadabra division is rounded out with: Swaneelou (Wyatt Avenatti), Lourhianon (Kennedy Linsey) and Fox Valley Cruise (Kyle Wilfong).

The opening legs of the Incredible Finale stakes series for state-bred colt and gelding pacers will be raced Friday night, while the ICF juvenile pacing fillies will tangle Saturday evening in the first rounds of the Incredible Tillie series.

By Mike Paradise

To get a shot at the winner’s share of the $85,000 (est.) Robert S. Carey Final on the Night of Champions an ICF 3-year-old colt or gelding pacer has to earn it.

The ten top point earners in the stake series four legs go for the big pot. The next top ten point finishers will compete on that September 24th night for a sizeable lesser purse of $15,000 in the stakes consolation.

Fifty points is awarded to a horse winning a Night of Champions stake series event. Then it’s 25 for second, 12 for third, 8 for fourth, 5 for fifth and 1 for starting.

Therefore it wasn’t that surprising to see leg two of the Carey series end up with three divisions. However, what was a bit of a revelation was the number of 28 entries, ensuring that the three $12,500 Carey divisions will have a pair of 9 horse fields and a 10-horse field.

Unbeaten.in 14 career starts and the 2016 Illinois Horse of the Year Fox Valley Gemini (pp 3, Casey Leonard) landed in the sixth race third Carey division and again looks like a stick-out.

Having the bad luck of drawing into that division are Ernie The Mooss (Gary Rath), Talk About It (Ridge Warren), Song Cycle Senese (Kelcey Perymond), Beach Shooting Star (Mike Oosting), Herecomesmagotta (Tim Curtin), Sheriff Coffey (Ryan Anderson), Dandy Dune (Ridge Warren) and Sagebrush Shocker (Kyle Wilfong).

The fourth race first Carey division looks to be very competitive with really no-clear cut favorite. The Hawthorne program lists You’remyhearthrob (Kyle Wilfong) at 9-5, probably based on the pacer’s consistency. The home-bred has been third or better in all seven season starts.

However, Al’s Briefs (Travis Seekman) should get a lot of play as well, despite drawing the 10-hole. After his third place finish in the first Carey leg the Clark Fairley trainee has rattled off three consecutive wins, capturing a Cardinal division on June 1st, coming from 10th and last to win a conditioned event nine days later, and then four nights ago breezing in a division of the Downstate Classic affair at Carrollton.

It’ll be interesting to see what the betting public does with the Hoosier Park invader M T Gunslinger (pp 1, Casey Leonard). You might remember him from last summer. The horse won in 1:55.1 in his freshman debut for trainer Charles Arthur and was sold two weeks later to Little Bapa LLC of Sacramento, California. M T Gunslinger ended his freshman season racing at Lexington.

M T Gunslinger is winless in his first seven starts this year with the first two coming at Pompano Park for conditioner Dwayne Minor and the last 5 in Indiana for trainer Rick Plano.

Also going postward in the first Carey group is Frontier Frank (Mike Oosting), Hart To Heart (Tim Curtin), Sports Creek (Ryan Anderson), Bootleg Island (Kyle Husted), Not Me Gram (Ridge Warren) and Heza Shooter (Tyler Shehan).

The Tom Simmons Stable’s Backstreet Lawyer (pp 4, Mike Oosting) is the 9-5 morning line favorite in the second Carey division and he deserves it. The Sagebrush gelding paced a quick 1:50.4 winning mile in his initial Carey leg and was a strong second in his Cardinal split.

Nevertheless upsets happen every racing night and there’s a number of 3-year-olds that could pull off a surprise victory among the other 9 starters: Special Sauce (Ryan Anderson), Fox Valley Sinful (Kyle Wilfong), Cool Casper (Tim Curtin), Yougotitfiguredout (Ridge Warren), Shark Flipper (Tyler Shehan), Shooting Straight (Casey Leonard), Fox Valley Jalan (Gary Rath), Fox Valley Hijinx (Kyle Husted) and Molina (Robert Smolin).

Crowded Dygert Field: Round two of the Erwin F. Dygert trotting stake series is the eighth race Sunday and it’s a jam packed field off 11 colts or geldings tangling. The early favoritism is divided between Majestic Caprice (programmed 3-1, Tyler Shehan) True Detective (7-2, Curt Grummel) and Vic’s Pizza (4-1, Mike Oosting).

True Detective was a romping winner in a division of the Cardinal trot earlier this month after being upset by his Curt Grummel stable-mate Big Lou (pp 10, Tim Curtin) in the first leg of the Dygert.

Majistic Caprice has really come on well as a 3-year-old for trainer Roshun Trigg with four victories in his last six starts. The Malabar Aqua trotter has 11 wins in his first 30 trips career trips to the gate.

Vic’s Pizza, the 2-year-old division champ for trainer Mike Brink, was second to True Detective in the Cardinal however it was his first race in nine months after sustaining a leg injury last September. Brink also has last season’s Night of Champions victor Illinimight (pp 8) in tonight’s Dygert with Casey Leonard at his lines for the first time.

The other Dygert hopefuls are Fly The W (Ridge Warren), Freddie Da Fox (Cornelius Cavett ), Cruzen Cassi (Jared Finn), Two News (Travis Seekman), Fox Valley Strpwr (Freddie Patton Jr.) and Don’t Be Cheekie (Ronnie Gillespie) in the second tier with post 11.

Repeats in Beulah Dygert: Good Design (Kyle Wilfong) and Maui Mama (Casey Leonard) were convincing winners in their respective second leg divisions of the Beulah Dygert stake series for state-bred 3-year-old trotting fillies.

Good Design ($5.00) went right to the front, opened a six length lead at the first quarter pole, and cruised to a 1:55.4 clocking for trainer Brett Wilfong, three and one-half lengths ahead of runner-up Trotting Grace (Kyle Husted). New Queen (Casey Leonard) was third. Good Design also won her first leg of the series on the front-end.

The Mike Brink Stable’s Maui Mama ($3.00) proved fastest in the lane as she came on in the late going for her second consecutive Beulah Dygert series win. Sunny Sasha (Jared Finn) came on in the late going to nip White Pants Fever (Steve Searle) for second, both beaten almost two lengths in the 1:57.3 mile.

The second round of the Plum Peachy series provided an upset in both $12,500 divisions when The Sister Master (Michele Morgan) popped at $17.60 and Skeeter Machine (Kyle Wilfong) eked out her win at $28.20.

The Sis Master, trained by her driver Michele Morgan, was parked-out the first quarter of the mile getting command from the outside nine-post and went on to a one and one-half length triumph in 1:53.4 over the 3-5 favorite Fox Valley Jazzy (Ridge Warren) who was given a two-hole trip.

Skeeter Machine was tipped-out of third in the last turn by Wilfong and the Alan Bowen trained filly steadily made up ground in the lane. A surge in deep stretch saw her nip the 2-1 second choice Rollin Coal in the final strides of the 1:54.1 mile.