by Tom Kelley, Balmoral Park Publicity Department

The state-bred stakes action continues on Sunday night at Balmoral Park as three-year-old trotting colts are featured in Cardinal Stake eliminations. With a total of 16 diagonally gaited sophomores dropped into the entry box, a pair of $9,000 splits will be contested. The top five finishers in each division will move on to the $50,000 est. final next Sunday night.

In the opening division Ken Spurlock and Phil Wiley’s Kennans Max appears to be the one to beat despite drawing the outside starting spot. Named 2003’s Two-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year here in Illinois, this son of Vaporize finished third in his first start of his 2004 campaign. That effort figures to have served as a nice tightener for the Joel Smith trainee who posted eight wins, two seconds and one third while earning more than $178,000 last season. Kennans Max also put his name into the Balmoral Park record books as he became the fastest two-year-old gelding in the history of the track with a time of 1:57.2 on October 19.

Rounding out the field for the first elimination are Camptown, R Nite Shift, Van Mo, Rockome Vic, John R Yankee, Fraher Hill Magic, and Speedy JJ.

In the nightcap Bart Cavanagh Sr.’s Customize figures to be an odds-on favorite as he looks to make it three in a row to start his sophomore campaign. The altered son of Wilson Wyoming had no trouble capturing the Mr. Magoo Stake in his last start here after opening his second season with a win in the Iggy Magoo Stake at Maywood Park. Under the watchful eye of conditioner Dirk Simpson, Customize has put together an amazing record of nine wins and nine seconds in 18 career starts with earnings of almost $150,000.

Completing the field are LB Mighty, Never Sea Fish, Checkout Lane, Grant’s Charger, Beerthirty, Vapor Time and Cheyenne Legend.