by Tom Kelley, publicity director, Balmoral Park

Crete, IL — Coming into Sunday’s (April 27) $10,000 Koochie Stake at Balmoral Park, all eyes were focused on trainer Dirk Simpson’s star Bailey’s Wish, who dominated the division most of last season. But when all was said and done it was a different Simpson trainee who was toting home top honors as driver John De Long guided Say No Mo to a two length victory in a career best of 1:59.3 at odds of 51-1.

David Baum photo

Say No Mo and driver John De Long teamed up to pull off a shocking upset at 51-1 in Sunday’s $10,000 Koochie Stake for 3-year-old trotting fillies.

Given a perfect steer by the red-hot De Long, the daughter of Bands Gold Chip-Not So Kosher floated away from post position nine, eventually finding a good early spot in third as High Balance (Casey Leonard) sped away from the gate to lead the field through splits of :30, 1:01 and 1:30.2.

Masterfully securing racing room after a prolonged first over bid by Green Acres (Jon Anderson) came up short, De Long moved his charge into position and the four-time winner in in 2013 responded beautifully, trotting home in a brisk :28.3 to pull off the shocking upset. Lora Lee Breeze (Matt Krueger) parlayed a perfect two-hole trip into a second place check while High Balance held on for third. Bailey’s Wish, the 4-5 favorite of the betting public, made an early break and was never a threat while finishing a distant eighth.

Lighting up the board with mutuels of $104.80, $36.00 and $16.60, Say No Mo pushed her career earnings up to $28,118 for the partnership of Dr. Patrick Graham, Flacco Family Farms and the Dirk Simpson Stables.

Thanks in large part to the upset in the Koochie Stake, which was the final leg of the 50 cent Pick-5 wager, no one successfully picked all five winners. There will be a carryover pool of $7,665.15 for Wednesday’s (April 30) Balmoral card. Because of the carryover Balmoral Park has announced that there will be a $40,000 guaranteed pool on Wednesday’s Pick-5 at Balmoral. The Pick-5 will be on races one through five on Wednesday night. Post time is 7:10 p.m. (CDT).

There will also be a $10,000 guaranteed pool on the $1 Pick-4 wager this Wednesday. The Pick-4 is on races six through nine.

Handicappers across North America can get a head start on their competition with free 12 line program pages for the guaranteed pools courtesy of the USTA Strategic Wagering Program and TrackMaster on the handicapping section at www.ustrotting.com.