Hinsdale, IL — The Mike Brink stable’s young ICF filly Stand By Your Man was an inconsistent trotter as a freshman. It was basically all or nothing at the end of a start, winning a trio of significant state-bred stake races, but not hitting the board in her other four season’s outings.

“She didn’t know what she was doing out there on the racetrack,” said Brink, who shares ownership with the talented but thus far fickle filly with fellow Illinoisans Mark Brown, Jeff Clauson and Robert Lacey. “She wanted to go fast, but she didn’t know how.

Last year’s Fox Valley Flan champion Stand By Your Man will be a happier filly trotter racing at the age of three. Four Footed Fotos.

“The filly wasn’t a good eater and could be grumpy at times,” continued the long-time Springfield based conditioner. “I tried a number of things to see what was bothering her but couldn’t come up with the right answer.

“She gained only two pounds over the winter so that’s when I decided to send her to the University of Illinois and see if their vets could figure out what was ailing her. After a few weeks they did. They told me the problem was the filly had serious ulcers.

“That’s probably why she sometimes made breaks. Her stomach was troubling her. The filly couldn’t straighten out her stride like she wanted to do because it hurt to do it. We’ve been treating her and she’s coming along just fine. I trained her down to (2:)25 last week.”

Mike believes Stand By Your Man is going to have a very good 3-year-old campaign.

“I think she’ll do very well this year,” continued Brink. “She made almost $100,000 last year and won Illinois bred stakes at Springfield and Du Quoin and the big race (Fox Valley Flan) at Hawthorne on Super Night with a very bad stomach, and she didn’t have much of a clue about racing.”

Just as he’s done with a bevy of his past champion trotters, Brink wants Stand By Your Man to be at the top of her game when the Illinois State Fairs roll around in August.

Brink has also started back with his star Illinois bred pacing mare My Daddys Revenge who has earned $190,892 as a 2- and 3-year-old for Mike and his partner Lori J. Searle. They paid only $7,000 at the 2021 Illini Classic Sale when the distaffer sold under the name Hopelane’s Revenge.

My Daddys Revenge, a Revenge Shark mare, has been third or better on 25 of her first 30 starts, winning 17 times, including an Open 2 event at Hawthorne last November. Earlier, she was second in last year’s Plum Peachy championship.

“My Daddys Revenge will definitely race in Illinois,” continued Mike. “I think she’s good enough to go in the Opens here. She isn’t a big horse, and she has no problems. She’s been trained down to (2:)15.

“I’ve had a lot of people interested in buying her for a broodmare but we’re not at that stage of her career right now.”