Jewels For Champ (Marcus Miller) looks to make it back-to-back triumphs in Sunday’s Open trot at Hawthorne. (Four Footed Fotos)

By Mike Paradise for the IHHA

 At long last the Open trot has returned to Hawthorne. It’s been more than a month since the top overnight event for trotting horses has embellished the Illinois Standardbred circuit and it comes with one more weekend to go before the curtains comes down on the Chicago area racetrack, as far as harness racing is concerned.

  Hawthorne won’t resume harness racing again this year until November 7th and that means, unless a change is made from the past few years fornat, except for racing this summer at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield at the Du Quoin State Fair a week or so later in southern Illinois, wagering on Illinois standardbreds will be extinct for more than nine months, and that’s not going to help the horsemen’s depleted purse account in any way, shape or form.

 Be that as it may, Hawthorne’s Sunday card does have some appealing races that you can actually bet on. Besides the Open trot, there are three divisions of the Spring Pop-Up series for filly and mare pacers, along with a single Pop-Up event for horses with a Trackmaster rating of 82 or less, 84 for ICF horses and it attracted a field of 11 solid pacers.

  Back to defend his Hawthorne Open trot title is Jewels For Champ (Marcus Miller), winner of the January 12th event in 1:56.4. The Tom Simmons trainee has won 3 of his last 4 starts but hasn’t competed in several weeks.

  Jewels For Champ landed the five-slot while the Jamaica Patton’s Rumbleinthevalley (Mike Oosting), second best in the last local Open, received the outside six slot. The five-year-old beat Jewels For Champ back on January 4th and has shown he can get away from the starting gate in a hurry.

  The mare Mary’s Magic (Marcus Miller), the veteran Perlucky (Kyle Wilfong), and trainer Merv Chupp’s duo of Rock Party (Casey Leonard) and Jammin Jamin (Juan Franco) complete the second race field.

 Windy City Farm’s Mary’s Magic has shown a liking for Hawthorne’s long stretch, coming home in 27.2 on January 26th in her winning 1:58.2 mile. A week earlier she came from eighth and last, more than nine lengths behind at the half, to be second, beaten less than one length in a 1:57 mile.

  The Spring Pop-Up first leg winners—RK’S Toni (Cordarrius Stewart) and Fillister Photo (Casey Leonard) again drew into different divisions, RK’s Toni, who rallied from the outside eight-slot in her win, moves to the pole position in race four while the versatile Fillister Photo guns for her third consecutive victory from the four post in race five. Perry Smith’s Imarealrockinrebel (Todd Warren) and the Jill Brown Seaside Streaker (Casey Leonard) are the likely favorites in race six, tonight’s third series event.

 The eighth race Pop-Up has one 11-horse division with first leg victor, Genie Ina Bottle (Cordarius Stewart) securing the favorable one-slot, while the beaten favorite and eventual runner-up Sailor Sam (Brandon Bates) starts right behind the Gene Gilerman mare with post 11 in the second tier.

 Post two through 10 belong to Flickdawrist (Casey Leonard), Real Cool Cole (Todd Warren), Fox Valley Cayman (Marcus Miller), Fox Valley Jasper (Robert Smolin), Fox Valley Presley (Wyatt Avenatti), Shark Solicitor (Juan Franco), Fox Valley Monaco (Travis Seekman), Mr Charisma (Mike Oosting) and Rock Steady Ron (Kyle Wilfong)