by Tom Kelley, publicity director, Balmoral Park

Crete, IL — Connie Hochstetler and Bruce and Dean Alexander’s Dr McDreamy had the misfortune of drawing post position 10 for Saturday night’s (Sept. 17) $105,000 Su Mac Lad Championship at Balmoral Park, but the homebred son of American Native has still been installed as the 3-1 favorite as he squares off against nine other 3-year-old trotting colts.

The bay colt has been freshened up with a well deserved three-week layoff after making a break just after the start and then fading badly after trying to get back into contention while facing Muscle Hill in the $200,000 American-National on August 29. Prior to that effort the Homer Hochstetler trainee finished second behind division leader Southern Rocketop, who has elected to skip this test to compete in the C$1 million Canadian Trotting Classic at Mohawk, in the State Fair Championship at Springfield.

A force among the state-bred set in each of his first two seasons of racing, Dr McDreamy has racked up nine wins and seven seconds in 25 starts while earning $149,156. Trainer Homer Hochstetler will handle the driving duties.

Mark Winship and Peter Spaeth’s B Victorious lived up to his name in Du Quoin and this speedy son of Victory Gift is a close second choice in the morning line at 7-2. A relative unknown in the Chicagoland area after campaigning for most of the year on the downstate fair circuit the Nick Giberson trainee made every call a winning one in the $12,500 County Fair Challenge in Du Quoin as he stopped the clock in a career best of 1:57.3 last time out.

After a non-descript 2-year-old season in which he was winless in four starts, this bay colt has come on strong in his second season, racking up 12 wins, six seconds and one third in 25 starts with earnings of nearly $35,000. Sam Widger gets the call to drive as B Victorious starts from post position three.

Others who merit strong consideration among this group are The Way He Moves (Marcus Miller, 6-1), a seven-time winner this season, Welchkin (Dale Hiteman, 4-1), a stakes winning gelding from the barn of conditioner Roger Welch who boasts earnings of nearly $47,000 this season and Pronto Don Stakes winner Shining Armor (Josh Sutton, 8-1) who is looking for his third straight victory as he comes into this race.

Fox Valley Lover and Miss Vickie set to square off again in Lady Ann Reed

The rivalry between the top two sophomore trotting fillies in the Prairie State, Fox Valley Lover and Miss Vickie, will be renewed Saturday evening as the diagonally gaited ladies square off in the $115,000 Lady Ann Reed Stake.

Fresh off a convincing 4-3/4 length victory in last week’s elimination action, Paula Smith and James Runyan’s Fox Valley Lover has been installed as the slight 5-2 morning line favorite from post position seven.

The bay daughter of Vaporize has been a model of consistency all season long, winning 10 of 13 starts while finishing second and third in two others. The pride of conditioner Joel Smith gained a measure of redemption in Du Quoin, capturing the $30,000 Windy Skeeter Stake after finishing second behind Miss Vickie in the $50,000 State Fair Championship at Springfield earlier in the month.

This season’s Violet Stake winner has proven that she can win on the front end or while coming from well off the pace and regular pilot Dale Hiteman gives Smith all the credit for keeping this filly razor sharp.

“Joel has had her ready to go right from the time she hit the track this season,” said Hiteman. “She hasn’t thrown one bad race and nothing seems to bother her out there which makes my job much easier.”

Boasting a career record of 15 wins, four seconds and three thirds in 27 starts, Fox Valley Lover has amassed $213,496 in career earnings.

After a slow start to her sophomore season Kevin Dixon and Robert Taylor’s Miss Vickie, last season’s freshman sensation, appears to be finding her best stride as we head into the final portion of the 2009 season.

The daughter of Valley nbsp; Victor had to overcome a tough first over trip in her elimination win and the triumph left driver Brandon Simpson pretty impressed.

“With all the bad luck she’s had this year I just wanted to make sure she stayed flat,” he explained. “But once we pulled alongside the leader she put her away with no problem and then I could really feel her dig in when the horse on the outside of her got close nearing the wire.”

After winning six of 10 starts and finishing third in three others during her freshman season trainer Robert Taylor had very high hopes for this filly. After shipping to Canada to try her luck against some of the top sophomore trotting fillies in the country Miss Vickie wound up getting sick and never really showed the talent she possesses. Despite some bad luck in draws and the illness Miss Vickie has still managed to post three wins and three thirds in 13 starts this year while adding another $81,659 to a bankroll which now stands at $202,074.