by Jim Miller, for Hawthorne Race Course

Stickney, IL — As the second full weekend of racing wrapped up at Hawthorne Race Course, the temperatures warmed and a couple of drivers heated up.

Leading driver Casey Leonard had a big weekend in the bike as he guided home 13 winners over the four day racing week.

Leonard opened the racing week with a three bagger on Thursday. On Friday evening, Leonard guided home five winners, some at big prices. Leonard won the fourth race with Little Miss Torie ($57.20), followed by favored Financial Effort two races later. In the ninth race Leonard was back in the winner’s circle with the longest shot on the board as Dali Treasure ($51.00) rallied late. The following race Leonard drove home Sure You Are ($33.20) and closed out the evening with favorite Jiggles The Clown in the finale.

Leonard won three more times on Saturday, including another impressive score by Ontario Success (1:51) in the Saturday feature. He closed the 13-win weekend with a pair of victories on Sunday evening.

Driver Todd Warren also had a fine weekend, winning seven races over the four day span.

Warren opened the week winning a pair on Thursday night. After going winless Friday, he came back with a trio of scores Saturday, driving home both Old Man River and KC Rambunctious Boy to their second wins at the meet. On Sunday, Warren won twice more as John Jay and It’saswan both continued their fine Hawthorne form.

Capping the Sunday card was a first for driver Juan Franco as he recorded the first pari-mutuel victory of his career in the Sunday finale. Franco drove 25-1 shot Parklane Dragon to a 2-1/4 length score for trainer Nelson Willis in Sunday’s 10th race.

Stakes nominations for 2-year-old races posted

The nominees for the four 2-year-old stakes races have been posted on the Hawthorne website.

Two-year-old filly trotters will compete in the Fox Valley Flan stakes as 31 fillies were nominated. The Kadabra Stakes for 2-year-old colt trotters closed with 30 nominations. In the Incredible Tillie Stakes for 2-year-old filly pacers, 72 were nominated. The Incredible Finale Stakes for 2-year-old colt pacers ended up with 61 nominees.

To view the full list of all stakes nominations, visit the Hawthorne website at www.HawthorneRaceCourse.com and click on the “Horsemen” tab.