Lous Amazon (Casey Leonard) goes for her third consecutive Jingle Bell trotting series win Saturday at Hawthorne (Four Footed Fotos).

By Mike Paradise for the IHHA

 Many of us cringe at the arrival of winter in Illinois. Nevertheless, there are those who welcome it, especially for outside activities. And in some cases, there are horses who thrive when the weather gets colder.

 The Steve Searle stable’s Lous Amazon has been one of those horses. The 3-year-old ICF filly goes after her third consecutive victory in round three of Saturday’s Jingle Bell series for ICF trotters at Hawthorne.

 Winning races in the wintertime isn’t unusual for the daughter of Lou’s Legacy. “That’s what she did last year as a 2-year-old, too,” said her trainer.

 Steve was spot on.

  A check of the filly’s past performances shows she won her last three 2023 races, in Hawthorne’s Pop-Up series. Searle admits it isn’t the weather for his filly’s winter success, it’s the competition.

 The Hawthorne winter meet series is written for pacers or trotters with limited season success, eliminating the cream of the crop in their divisions, and benefiting the next level of competition.

 “Lous Amazon isn’t facing the top 3-year-old state-breds like she did in the summer and fall. Lots of times she went into a race as fourth or fifth best. If everything went right, maybe she could be third against those good trotters in her division like Whiskey Lou, Peekaboo Sal, and Calypso Moon. Now she’s racing against trotters at her own level.”

 Has Searle made any recent equipment changes on Lous Amazon?

 “I’ve put an ear hood on her and she’s done well since,” added the Grant Park, Illinois resident.

 Add in the fact that the filly is sharp, healthy, and confident, and you have the winning recipe for success. Despite being labeled as a “second level” Illinois trotter, Lou’s has banked a not too shabby $43,112 for her owners and breeders Flacco Family Farms of Alexis, Illinois.

 While the filly has a modest record of three season wins, she has missed only one check in her 19 trips to the starting gate in 2024 and several of those came in state-bred stake events.

 In her freshman campaign Lous Amazon was six-time winner in 5 starts and made just under $35,000. “The first time Casey (Leonard) drove her he told me ‘She has talent, now we just have to reel it in.”’

 With almost $80,000 in purse earnings in Lous Amazon’s first two years of racing, it sounds like that has been accomplished.

 Lous Amazon is one of two 3-yrear-old trotters going to the post Friday night in the Jingle Bell series for Searle. The other is the gelding Lous Miracle, who swept Hawthorne’s recent Illinois bred series. After taking a week off Lous Miracle entered the second series leg but was rambunctious and made breaks at the start last week.

 “It was a sloppy surface, and his driver Wyatt Avenatti said the glare from the lights hitting the track was bothering the horse,” added Searle.

  Lous Amazon (Casey Leonard) is the 8-5 early favorite when she leaves from post six in the second Jingle Bell series third leg Friday night. She takes on Blazin Grace (Travis Seekman), Fashion Baby (Cordarius Stewart), Omaha Storm Chaser (Kyle Wilfong), Lous Mandalorian (Chris Brown), Rockefeller Lindy (Wyatt Avenatti), Helpful Nonna (Marcus Miller) and Aunt Percilla (Todd Warren).

 A race earlier Lous Miracle (post seven, Wyatt Avenatti) meets Affection (Marcus Miller), Scorecard Lil Red (Juan Franco), Ally Baba (Travis Seekman), Stylish Grace (Jordan Patton), Illini Diva (Kyle Wilfong), Hope’s Star (Casey Leonard) and Noble Prize (Robert Smolin).