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.

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).