by Jonathan Marsh, USTA Web Newsroom Correspondent

Columbus, OH — Balmoral Park will set the scene for a plethora of Hanover Stake races on Saturday night (July 18). The combined purse money from all ten Hanover Stakes totals a tantalizing $251,602. There are four different classes: 2-year-old filly pace (three events at $23,467 per race), 2-year-old colt and gelding pace (also three splits at $26,067 per race), 3-year-old filly pace (two divisions at $25,300 per race), and 3-year-old colt and gelding pace (also two events at $26,200 per race).

Race No. 11, a division of the 3-year-old filly pace, will be particularly interesting thanks to a hot little filly owned by Kay Willis and Richard Beere.

Maywood Park photo

Native Hotspur will be seeking her eighth win of the year on Saturday in a division of the Hanover Filly Stake.

The speedy sophomore Native Hotspur (Ft Apache Hanover-Broadway Charisma) has earned seven wins from her eight starts this year. This is a dramatic improvement compared to the 15 starts and four wins she obtained in 2008.

“She chased the best,” said trainer Nelson Willis. “She raced against a tough bunch.”

Most of last year was spent trailing the success of Fox Valley Topaz. The Sportsmaster-Theladyappealstome miss won 10 of 15 starts and claimed the title of 2-Year-Old Filly Pacer of the Year in 2008. Fortunately for Native Hotspur, Fox Valley Topaz hasn’t had as much success this season with only one win so far.

“She’s a lot bigger and stronger,” Willis said referring to his own filly. “She’s very easy to train; she’s willing to do whatever you need.”

Among her victories this year are the $100,000 Maywood Filly Pace and $56,900 Violet Stakes final. In her most recent effort, on July 12 in a $9,000 Ohyouprettything Stake split at Balmoral, Native Hotpsur held on gamely to win by a neck in a career best of 1:52.1.

Willis said he hasn’t changed Native Hotspur’s usual training, and at least part of the reason for her added success this year is due to the absence of Fox Valley Topaz from a few races in Illinois. During June, Fox Valley Topaz spent time at The Meadowlands in addition to Mohawk Raceway, giving Native Hotspur a chance to exact a little vengeance.

“I expected this with ‘Topaz’ out of the country,” he said referring to his filly’s success.

Even with such a positive record to bestow a good omen, and an entire second shaved off last year’s best time, Willis is still very aware of the potential danger with Fox Valley Topaz being in Saturday’s race. Even China Gal (Sportsmaster-China Moon N) is a filly to be treated with caution in his eyes.

But don’t think for a moment that caution will end up hindering Willis. His filly has the second fastest 2009 winning time among the lady pacers of race No. 11, and she also has the largest amount of winnings at $111,255. So with speed and a pile of cash to showcase her accomplishments, Native Hotspur will be pulling her sulky just as hard as any other pacer on the track.

Here’s the field for Native Hotspur’s division of the Hanover Filly Stake: 1. China Gal (Todd Warren); 2. Fox Valley Topaz (Tyler Buter); 3. Native Hotspur (Sam Widger); 4. Long Legged Dream (Todd Warren); 5. Fox Valley Tyra (Robert Smolin); 6. Wolf Creek Vixen (Tyler Buter); 7. Park Lane Dream (Dale Hiteman); 8. My Heart Was True (Brandon Simpson); and 9. Kate’s Rocket (Brandon Simpson).