Hinsdale, IL — They say that the third time is the charm. We’re hoping they’re right so Monday’s (Jan. 29) Hawthorne Open Trot can finally be contested.

Old Man Winter has been playing havoc with Hawthorne’s harness racing meeting and the last two Opens Trot cards had to be canceled. However, better weather at long last has arrived.

First it was sub-zero temperatures and wind chill factors from 20 to 30 below that knocked out the Monday (Jan. 15) program that included the Open Trot. Then nasty and icy road conditions came about and prevented the Monday (Jan. 22) races from being conducted.

The “all-clear” signal came about last night, and Sunday’s card was completed without any weather-related glitches, so it’s a “go” for tonight’s 10-race card.

Monday’s second race $11,100 feature has four of the five trotters in its field that were intended to tangle a week ago. The lone exception is Mark P’Pool’s Dash Of Luck (Brandon Bates) with the two-post instead of Loulita, who will race later in the card.

Lousdobb (Travis Seekman) was allocated the one slot. Double A Goldrush (Casey Leonard) was given the three. Perlucky (Kyle Wilfong) landed the four with the Jan. 8 Open winner Bluebird Deacon (Atlee Bender) leaving from the outside five-slot.

The Erv Miller Midwest division’s Bluebird Deacon will open as the 8-5 favorite after coming from out of it with a quick :26.2 last quarter at the end of a 1:56.1 mile.

Before Sunday’s $11,100 Open Pace feature, we had a chance to chat with John Filomeno, trainer of Illinois champion He’zzz A Wise Sky who was overtaken the previous Sunday by Perry Smith’s Town Gossip.

“I feel He’zzz A Wise Sky has a good chance to bounce back this week,” said his trainer. “I knew he wasn’t going to be as sharp last week as he was previously after not racing for three weeks. Plus, the weather conditions made it almost impossible to get him trained the way I wanted during his time off.

“Also, the track last Sunday wasn’t good, and my horse didn’t get a hold of it like he should.”

He’zzz A Wise Sky did bounce back with a very big effort last night but again it was a Perry Smith owned and trained horse, Round Here Buzz ($10.20), perfectly handled by Mike Oosting, that collared him, this time in the final strides.

He’zzz A Wise Sky, as expected, cut the fractions of :27.3, :55 and 1:22.1 with Round Here Buzz racing second. The 4-5 public’s choice opened up a three-length lead heading into the stretch. Nonetheless, the eventual winner kept digging in and gaining, posting a neck victory in 1:50.3.

Perry’s other two Open starters, Play Me Rock and Town Gossip, finished a non-threatening third and fourth, respectively.