ICF Sophomores Take Over the Limelight

By Mike Paradise
It’s Round Two this week for Hawthorne’s ICF 3-year-old stake series as the sophomore brigade of trotters and pacers look to take a major step to securing a stating berth in their respective finals on the in-town track’s Night of Champions on September. 10.
First up is Thursday’s $10,000 second leg of the Beulah Dygert stakes for filly trotters and the Erwin S Dygert events for state-bred cold and gelding totters.
A repeat victory by the first leg victors Roma Fall, trained by Ray Hannah, or Rockinbabyprincess, from the Nelson Willis Stable, in the Dygert filly stake or from Willis’ Mr. Strata or Kenny Collier’s Fear in the Dygert colt clash would lock-up a starting berth in their respective $75,000 (est.) Championships in September.
Friday are the $12,500 round divisions of the Plum Peachy for second season ICF pacing fillies where Hosea Williams’ Lexington Lady and Quaid Racing’s Char N Marg look to make it back-to-back victories and sew-up a berth in that $100,000 (est.)Final later on.
Saturday’s $12,500 Robert F Carey Memorial stake will bring out the top ICF male pacers for its second leg. The stakes opening leg divisions were annexed by the Rodney Freese Stable’s Caffeine Kid and longshot Holdonwe’rerolling, trained by Rob Rittof, who popped at $108.00 in his victorious 1:54.1 mile.
The Carey’s pre-stake favorite Dan D Dune, winner of last year’s Orange and Blue Colt Final on Super Night, came up sick and was a late scratch.
Both of the 3-year-old pace championships are expected to have a $100,000 purse.
The fields for all the ICF stake finals for the Night of Champions are determined on a point basis with 50 awarded for a first place finish, 25 for second, 12 for third 8 for fourth, 5 for fifth and 1 point for a starter.
Warren Red-Hot Chicago native Todd Warren had himself quite a successful past week of driving at Hawthorne, posting 17 winners during the four nights of racing and zooming past the $20 million plateau in money won in his career. (Four Footed Photo)
The 51-year-old Warren had three wins last Thursday, picked-up four more on Friday and then had back-to-back five w9nning drive nights on Saturday and Sunday.
Horses driven by Todd, a resident of Manhattan Illinois, have won over $1 million 9 of the last 10 Illinois racing seasons with his career best coming in 2012 with $2.5 million banked and had 342 first place finishes, two short of his best winning season in 2010 when he had 344,