The Jim Eaton stable’s Bet Mine (no.8) , victorious in 2 of his last 3 starts, is one of the pre-race favorites in Saturday’s second race headliner. (Four Footed Fotos).

 By Mike Paradise for the IHHA

 With an extremely cold weather forecast on the horizon, Hawthorne has cancelled Sunday’s racing program and changed Saturday’s 14-race card to an earlier 5:30 (Central time) first post time.

 Temperatures are expected to dip below zero on Sunday with a dangerous wind chill factor of 15 degrees below zero. Wind gusts are expected to reach 32 miles per hour, plummeting the temperature to even more treacherous readings, definitely not safe for people or horses alike.

 We will have to wait another week to watch and wager on Hawthorne’s Open Pace, however Saturday’s top event will come early on Saturday’s program and it’s a good one.

 It’s the second race for horses with a Trackmaster racing of less than 80 and most of the seven starters have competed at the meet in a local Open, including the morning line favorites, the Perry Smith tandem of Round Here Buzz (Cordarius Stewart) and Truffle Dog (Mike Oosting), along with Bet Mine (Wyatt Avenatti from the barn of trainer Jim Eaton.

 Fox Valley Cayman (Casey Leonard), Odds On Alpha Make (Brandon Bates), Tookadiveoffdipper (Marcus Miller) and Clearchoice De Vie (Juan Franco) complete what appears to be a nicely competitive field.

 What we learned last week is that after a couple of months of a different horse prevailing in Hawthorne’s Open Pace for colts and geldings every weekend, we may have a pacer who might just rule the top overnight event for a while.

 He’s Brooklyn Bridge, an Australia bred pacer from the Ronnie Roberts stable. The now 7-year-old gelding a week ago became the first horse to win back-to-back Hawthorne Opens at the winter meet.

 It was a heads-up drive from Kyle Wilfong that went a long way in Brooklyn Bridge’s 1:52 mile victory. Kyle has been the regular driver behind the Illinois champion He’zzz A Wise Sky through the horse’s outstanding career, so he knows the homebred strengths and weaknesses.

 A vast majority of He’zzz A Wise Sky’s 56 lifetime wins have come on the front, cutting quick fractions, pulling away in the last turn, and holding off the late closers. With that in mind, when driver Todd Warren hustled He’zzz A Wise Sky from the three-slot, Wilfong did the same with Brooklyn Bridge, handicapped with the seven-post, and so did Brandon Bates with the Anotherstatement A from the two, and Wyatt Avenatti with Melton Beach N on the rail..

 Both Melton Beach and Brooklyn Bridge had head pole misfunctions right after the start with the New Zealand bred making a speed break. However, Brooklyn Bridge shook off the equipment problem and settled into the three-hole for Wilfong where the Sweet Lou gelding raced for much of the mile.

 When the front-stepping He’zzz A Wise Sky accelerated near the three-quarters to a four length lead, Wilfong had Brooklyn Bridge on the move as well, and the betting favorite proved fastest, powering past in the late going. Anotherstatment A came on nicely for second, beaten a half-length while He’zzz A Wise Sky held on for third.