Stickney, IL — A trio of 13-race cards highlighted a warm and adventurous weekend at Hawthorne. Leading the way throughout the weekend was the father-son pair of Todd and Ridge Warren.

Friday night (July 17) was Ridge Warren night at Hawthorne as he made his presence known early in the evening. Warren kicked off his hot night winning the first leg of the early Pick-4 sequence with 5-1 shot Impressive Art (1:53.2) for trainer Dane May.

While Warren started the Pick-4 with a win, he completed a sweep of the entire sequence. In race four, the second leg of the early Pick-4, Warren guided home Mckee Creek (1:53.3) to a late rallying victory for trainer Nick Prather. He followed that with winning behind He Gone Jack (1:52.1) for the second straight week for trainer Mike Brink. Warren closed the sequence with the upset of the night as Terry Leonard trained Ponda’s Prospect (1:51) upset Terry Leonard trained Illinois champ Fox Valley Gemini, winning the open pace by a neck.

Warren rounded out his night by taking the 12th race behind Better Watch Out (1:52.2) for trainer Merv Chupp, capping a five-win evening.

While Ridge Warren had the big night, his father Todd won the biggest race on the Friday card. Leg two action of the $17,500 Incredible Finale, for Illinois-bred 2-year-old male pacers, was the featured event. An early break by favored Well Basically opened the door for Todd Warren to give a perfect trip to Frontier Charley as the Jim Eaton trained youngster won by a half-length in 1:57.1. Mekkas Big Guy was a game second while Partyatmosasplace finished third.

Todd would make it a Friday double, taking the nightcap with Artofficial Flavor (1:54.2) for trainer Angela Coleman.

The tables turned on Saturday night as this time it was Todd Warren stringing together victories on the card. Trying to repeat the feat of Ridge’s Friday night early Pick-4 sweep, Todd nearly did just that.

Todd Warren pulled off the big upset with 29-1 shot Helen’s Girl (1:54.3) for trainer William Crone. Four Footed Fotos photo.

In the first leg of the Saturday sequence, Todd got things started, pulling off the big upset with 29-1 shot Helen’s Girl (1:54.3) for trainer William Crone. In the following race it was Todd Warren again in the winner’s circle, this time with Crooked Creek (1:55.4) for trainer Mike Brink. The third leg of the Pick-4 also went to Todd Warren as he drove Tappin Outamessage (1:52.2) to a clear win for trainer Harold Herrera. Todd almost got the sweep of the sequence but Fox Valley Torrid came up short, finishing third in race six as favored Lilly Von Shtupp (1:53.2) wasn’t to be denied.

With Todd Warren winning races early, it meant it was Ridge Warren’s turn to take the spotlight for the stakes event. Leg two of the $17,500 Incredible Tillie for Illinois-bred 2-year-old filly pacers followed. Heavily favored was Ridge Warren driven Connie On The Go and she didn’t disappoint, controlling the pace for the majority of the race, winning clearly for trainer Jamaica Patton in 1:58. Princess Mooss rallied to finish second while longshot Kandi’s Fortune held third.

Ridge was able to grab his second win on the card, taking race 12 with Hello Art (1:55) for trainer Mike Brink.

Saturday also saw a driving triple from Casey Leonard, winning the second with Meetmeatthefinish (1:54.1), sixth race behind Lilly Von Shtupp (1:53.2), and 11th with Louscardamon (1:58.4).

Kyle Wilfong had a pair of wins on the card, guiding home favorites Stella Kemp (1:58.4) and Ok Jewel (1:54.4) to wins in the ninth and tenth races, respectively.

An eventful Sunday evening at Hawthorne wasn’t dominated nearly as much by the Warren family, although the father-son duo were the race five exacta as Todd drove Shelly On My Mind (1:53.2) to a win over Ridge and Pretty Iris.

Juvenile trotters were the focus on the card with a pair of $17,500 divisions of the Fox Valley Flan for 2-year-old filly trotters and two $17,500 divisions of the Kadabra for 2-year-old male trotters.

The first division of the Fox Valley Flan was dominated by the favorite as Bbr Lady grabbed the early lead for driver-trainer Freddie Patton Jr. and never looked back, winning easily in 2:01.4. Lucky Valerie was a good second while Lou Lou Lamour recovered from a break to finish third.

The second division of the Fox Valley Flan saw a minor upset as Kyle Wilfong guided Lous Voodoo Woman (2:01.2) to the score over favored Myonly Sin. Bc’s Rose finished third. Lous Voodoo Woman was trained by Steve Searle.

In the first division of the Kadabra there was an upset as well as Rndmnunpredictable uncorked a late rally to catch favored Sudden Approach on the wire, winning in 2:01.2 for driver Mike Oosting and trainer Steve Searle. I’mnotalocaldude finished third.

The second division of the Kadabra had the two favorites rallying late as Coco D’Lascito (2:03.4) rolled to the win for Casey Leonard and trainer Jenna Lubeck. Slight favorite Shady Maple Spirit was good enough to finish second while Lousrolando was third.

The tenth race Sunday had a scary moment as Captain Classic stepped on a front hobble at the top of the stretch, causing a chain reaction spill that included Fox Valley Jude and Master Ken. In the spill, drivers Kyle Husted, Tyler Shehan, and Casey Leonard were all unseated.

Fortunately all three horses escaped injury and Shehan and Leonard were able to walk away from the incident. Husted was transported to the hospital but reports that he was dealing with knee soreness from a prior injury and hopes for a quick return to the bike.