Fox Valley Tasha (Cordarious Stewart) will compete in Hawthorne’s Spring Pop-Up series Sunday for pacing filly and mares. (Patricia Fryman Photography)



By Mike Paradise for the I.H.H.A.

 Hawthorne’s harness racing meeting is entering its homestretch with only a trio of weekends left. Its race office has decided to wrap the session with an additional pop-up series that concludes on the track’s closing night.

 It’s being called a “Spring” Pop-Up series even though winter doesn’t official end for six more weeks, but that’s okay, it does offer an optimist tone to the weather ahead.

 Saturday’s Spring Pop Up series are for horses with a Trackmaster rating of 72 or less, one for males and the other for the gals.  Saturday’s initial series legs offer a $7,000 pot with $10, 000 purses on their February 23rd finals. Sunday’s series is for higher ranked horses with a Trackmaster rating of 82 or less with a $12,000 purse on its February 24th showdown.

 Kicking off Saturday’s Spring Pop-Offs are two first round legs for pacers with Trackmaster ratings of 72 or less and a single division for trotters with a rating of 68 or less.

 James Molitor’s Leader Of The Band (Brandon Bates), fresh off a 1:57.2 victory a week ago, and Shelly Graham’s Rae Gram (Casey Leonard), who takes a class drop, are the first race morning line favorites.

 A quartet of pacers, Kevin Miller’s Thatswhatsup, a recent 1:57.3 winner; Shelly’s Graham’s Gotta Go Gram (Todd Warren), who likely needed last week’s start, the long overdue Mazin Blazin (Casey Leonard), bred and owned by Donald Laufenberg, and the John Filomeno trained Who’zzz This Sky (Robert Smolin), the younger brother of Illinois champion He’zzz A Wise Sky, are all possible post time favorites.

 Saturday’s second race Spring Pop-Up event for trotters lured a field of five—Peekaboo Sal (Wyatt Avenatti), Jammin Jamin (Juan Franco), M Maurrone (Robert Smolin), Fashion Baby (Cordarius Stewart), Loulita (Casey Leonard), and Just A Hintof Spice (Mike Oosting).

 Peekaboo Sal, from the barn of Steve Searle, was bet down to 1-2 odds last week and received a pocket-trip but failed to “fire” when called upon, finishing a non-threatening third; Loulita, a 7-year-old stable-mate of Peekaboo Sal), boasts 23 career wins and over $300,000 in career earnings, is reunited tonight with Casey Leonard who has driven the mare to most of her lifetime wins, while the Jim Eaton stable’s Just A Hint of Spice has nailed down first place finishes in 2 of her last 3 outings with Oosting at the lines.

 Sunday’s initial leg of the Spring Pop-Off events include two competitive filly and mare pacing divisions with Trackmaster ratings of 74 or less as of January 31st.

 It’s fourth race first grouping looks particularly interesting with three sharp mares—Fillister Photo (Casey Leonard), Time To Ryde (Brandon Bates) and Fox Valley Tasha (Brandon Bates) squaring off.

 Fillister Photo, a five-year-old from the barn of Illinois Hall of Fame conditioner Terry Leonard, looked very good pulling off a first over 1:55.3 triumph a week ago over Time To Ryde, who has been a model of consistency the last couple of months for trainer Jim Eaton, The now 4-year-old Time To Roll mare possesses two wins, three seconds and a third in her last six trips to the starting gate.

 Fox Valley Tasha, another daughter of the Illinois stallion Trime To Roll, has been second best in 3 of her last 4 races and sandwiched in between those starts was a 1:56 flat victory over Time To Ryde.