Illinois champion He’zzz A Wise Sky (Kyle Wilfong) looks to rebound after last week “clunker” in Monday’s Hawthorne Open Pace. (Four Footed Fotos).

  By Mike Paradise for the I.H.H.A.

 A “clunker.”

  It can occur in just about every sport. Your best pitcher can’t get out of the first inning. Your star quarterback keeps making poor decisions. Your best shooting guard keeps missing easy baskets.

 It happens in horse racing as well and last weekend Illinois current best aged pacer came up with a rare “clunker:” when He’zzz A Wise Sky finished up the track at Hoosier Park in their $22,000 Open

 “Sitting in the two-hole I thought he was a winner turning for home,” said his trainer, John Filomeno. “Then I said “oh, oh,” he just doesn’t have it.”

 “It was just one of those nights,” continued Filomeno. “It’s only happened a handful of times in his racing career. The good news is he’s sound and he’s not sick. I think he’ll rebound this week (in Monday’s Hawthorne Open).

 It’s no secret He’zzz A Wide Sky is most relaxed and is at his best on the front-end but when a longshot pushed the six-year-old to a torrid 26 flat first quarter and the eventual winner (Billy Clyde) powered past and went to a 53.2 first half, were those blistering fractions the reason for the Illinois champion was on empty in the stretch?

 “Naw,” answered John. “I watched him parked out to 25 and a piece and go on to win that race. It was just of those nights where he wasn’t himself.”

  He’zzz A Wise Sky (Kyle Wilfong) was designated to the outside six-slot in the sixth race $11,000 Open by the Hawthorne Race office. An assigned outside post usually brings about the morning line favoritism but that isn’t the case Saturday night.

 The computer-generated morning line has Hello Sweetie Boy (Travis Seekman) the 5-2 pre-race favorite after two straight Hawthorne triumphs wins in conditioned paces, including last week’s 1:50.4 lifetime mark for Crete, Illinois owner and trainer Kimberly Roth.

 He’zzs A Wise Sky is listed next at 3-1, followed closely by Clearchoice De Vie (Todd Warren) who was allocated the pole position. Fox Valley Ozzy (Gary Rath) opens at 4-1 with the two post, Tookadiveoffdipper (p.p.4, Casey Leonard) is at 9-2 and Get E Up (p.p. 5, Kyle Husted) the longshot of the race at 7-1. Posts two through five were drawn.

 Your author listed He’zzz A Wise Sky at 4-5 odds in his morning line as a “solid play.”

 There are two other Open contests on Hawthorne’s Saturday card, the second race trot and the fourth race filly and mare pace.

  Back after a week off in the “penalty box” for winning two consecutive Hawthorne Opens is the Jim Eaton stable’s Perlucky (Casey Leonard) with the outside slot in the six-horse race.

  Ponda Adventure (Cordarius Stewart) who stepped in nicely for the Midwest division of the Erv Miller stable with a comfortable victory in last week’s Hawthorne Open II with a 1:55 flat clocking, starts on Perlucky’s left.

 Scorecard Dan (Brandon Bates), Jack Vernon (Todd Warren), Goomster (Travis Seekman) and Rockyroad Aldo (Robert Smolin) round out the solid field of trotters.

  The distaff Open will see the reappearance at Hawthorne of the Miller stable’s Australian bred No Win No Feed (Cordarius Stewart). The eight-year-old mare took air from the 54:4 first half on in her November 6th local debut and still was won by one and one-half lengths in 1:52.3.

 Bombay Parkway, a four-year-old Illinois bred mare who starts slow but comes on with a rush in the lane for trainer Mike Brink, was second best to No Win No Feed two weeks ago and she procured the pole position.

 The first three slots were drawn with Skeeter Machine (Travis Seekman) getting the two and Dandy’s MNM (Kyle Husted) the three. Hawthorne newcomer Uncut Gem (Kyle Wilfong), a 1:51.1 victor this season at Scioto Downs, was allocated the four while two-time Illinois Aged Pacing Mare of the Year Fox Valley Exploit was allotted the five.