Oskaloosa, IA — Thirteen fields of 2-year-olds competed at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds for the third Iowa-Registered meet of 2019. After a few days of heavy rain causing 3-year-old racing to be cancelled on Sunday (July 21), a dedicated track recovery team had the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds ready for racing on Monday (July 22). The surface improved throughout the day with the second division of each feature race going faster than the first.

The first division of 2-year-old filly pacers went to Ivy B Poison, bringing her record to four wins and two seconds in six starts. Trained and driven by Scott Smith, the Sneaky B Skipalong filly stayed the course, navigating numerous lead changes throughout the mile. Parked outside the leader at the three-quarters, Smith let her loose and the pair rolled around the final turn separating from the field to cross the wire in 2:10.1. Ivy B Poison is owned by Chris Philipp.

After winning her racing debut in the Iowa-Registered non-winners of $3,000 in 2019 class last week in 2:07.3, Kati Sokolowski’s American Ideal filly Bestgirlsgotcurves moved up to the feature division for her second lifetime start.

The race went off with Skylar Said, a daughter of Well Said from the Duane Roland Stable, leading to the half in 1:05.1. Driver Chad Svenson and Bestgirlsgotcurves made their move to the front and fended off a stretch challenge by the Real Desire filly Shining Jewels to take the mile in 2:08. Trained by Joel McDanel, Bestgirlsgotcurves remains perfect in her freshman season.

Slippin The Clutch won the first division of 2-year-old pacing colts for trainer Curtis Carey. Bred by Randell and Alan Eden out of the Artsplace mare Sweet Otra, Slippin The Clutch has three wins in five starts. The Millionaire Cam colt partnered with driver Will Roland in a wire-to-wire, 2:08.2 performance. Slippin The Clutch is owned by Jesse Delong, Rick & CD Huffman and Jeff Carey.

Top colt Waco Sassy Kid continued to dominate with another win at Oskaloosa in the second division of pacing colts. Hailing from the state of Texas, the 2-year-old was clocked in the fastest pace of the day in 2:04.1 with Brett Erickson in the bike. The son of Costa Rica Kid continued his perfect record with his seventh win for owner Ronald Burks and trainer Lorenza Gooch.

The Rick Huffman Stable took both divisions of the 2-year-old filly trot. In the first, Lucky Playmate drew the rail with driver Chad Svenson. The pair took command off the gait poising to take her third feature race in another wire-to-wire win. The daughter of Lucky Chucky trotted with the half in 1:12.3 where the Angus Hall filly Sometimes You Dont made her move and came up on the outside. Lucky Playmate held strong, keeping the competition parked into the final turn where Svenson edged ahead to lead through the stretch for a 2:18.2 win. Lucky Playmate is owned by Larry Mather and Rick & CD Huffman.

In the second division of 2-year-old trotting fillies, driver Rob Anderson and CR Valentine drew the inside with Gary Liles and his undefeated filly Battle Queen in post position two. CR Valentine took the top and held strong on the front while the other trotters jostled for position throughout the race. Coming into the stretch, Liles let Battle Queen loose coming the fastest trotting last quarter of the day in :30.4, but it was not enough to overcome CR Valentine taking the mile in 2:11.3. CR Valentine is owned by Rick & CD Huffman.

McRocket Man holds strong, leading into the stretch with driver Tom Shipley. IaHHA photo.

The 2-year-old trotting colt divisions were both won by colts that hadn’t seen a win since their season openers. The first division went to McRocket Man in 2:15.3. The Macduffie colt settled into third, then pulled and edged the leader before the half in 1:10.3. McRocket Man raced parked the remainder of the mile, lengthening his stride around the final turn to keep the lead for the win. Owned, trained and driven by Tom Shipley, McRocket Man is a full brother to Shipley’s 2018 Iowa-Registered and Iowa-Sired champion filly Bankn-On-Emily.

In the final feature race of the day, Dan Roland’s 2-year-old Banker Volo colt Itsonlymoneyhoney took advantage of an early break by crowd favorite Scoreoneforme and led to the quarter in :32.2. By the three-quarters Itsonlymoneyhoney led by 12 lengths and sailed home in 2:11.2. Trained and driven by Dan Roland, Itsonlymoneyhoney is owned by the It’s Only Money Stable of Grinnell, Iowa.

Iowa racing resumes at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Webster City on Thursday (July 25) with a 5 p.m. post time. On Sunday (July 28) racing action moves south into Missouri at the Clark County Fair in Kahoka. Post time is 12:30 p.m.