Hinsdale, IL – Buoyed by a strong influx of horses from Indiana, Hawthorne’s Open for fillies and mares returns Monday evening (Dec. 18) after a four-week absence.
With the 2023 Hoosier Park meeting ending last weekend, a large number of horses entering Hawthorne events increased substantially. Of the 103 horses going postward Monday evening, 33 percent didn’t make their last start in Illinois, with the vast majority of those coming over the state lines from Indiana.
Sunday’s Hawthorne card, like Monday’s, was a jammed packed 12-race program with eight of its dozen races either a nine- or 10-horse field.
Perry Smith’s She’s Magical (Travis Seekman) and the Jim Eaton stable’s Marvelous Marshia (Todd Warren), the two mares allocated the outside six and seven horse posts in tonight’s fourth race headliner, are among the Hoosier Park invaders.
They’ll be tested by last year’s ICF filly champion Fox Valley Kia (Mike Oosting), along with Brooke’s Ocean (Brandon Bates), Bombay Parkway (Casey Leonard), Kizzzmelikeumissme (Kyle Wilfong), and Apple Valley (Juan Franco).
Fox Valley Kia, assigned the one-slot, has spent the last month and a half competing at Hoosier Park while racing out of the barn of former Balmoral Park leading trainer Ken Rucker where she was a two-time winner for owner Julie Collins of Bullhead City, AZ.
She’s Magical, a 4-year-old daughter of Rockin Image, has 10 season wins to go along with a half-dozen seconds and five thirds, boasting a $132,288 season bankroll.
Marvelous Marshia, a winner of almost $190,000 as a 3-year-old last year is making only her 10th start at the age of four and she comes off some strong recent efforts in Indiana. The Always A Virgin mare had a 1:52.2 victory on Nov. 25, and followed with a third placing earlier this month with a :26.4 last panel, and a game runner-up finish nine days ago, the last two in Open 3 events.
Both Michele Morgan’s Brooke’s Ocean, and Kizzmelikeumissme, trained by John Filomeno, bring two-race winning streaks into the Monday headliner.
A race earlier on the program is a $9,500 Open II trot, limited to horses who have not won an Open in either of their last two starts.
The eight-horse competitive field consists of Annas Lucky Star (Mike Oosting), Justa Hintof Spice (Wyatt Avenatti), Lousdobb (Travis Seekman), Dash Of Luck (Brandon Bates), Calderone (Kyle Wilfong), Loulita (Casey Leonard), Never Mind N (Todd Warren) and Rockyroad Aldo (Robert Smolin), in that post-position order.
Both the Mark P’Pool trained Dash of Luck and Calderone, from the barn of Jim Eaton, are making their Hawthorne debut. The 3-year-old Calderone was a recent purchase by Robert Silberberg of Farmington Hills, MI.
Chalk Up Another: He’zzz A Wise Sky had little trouble extending his latest winning streak to three in a row in Sunday night’s (Dec. 17) $11,100 Open Pace.
The John Filomeno 6-year-old homebred did it in his usual front-stepping way but with a little different strategy from driver Kyle Wilfong. He’zzz A Wise Sky, assigned the outside nine-post, was one five horses sprinting away from the starting gate but instead of gunning for the lead with the 3-5 favorite, Kyle wisely let the field settle in and then asked The Yankee Skyscraper stud for another gear once the first turn was cleared.
He’zzz A Wise Sky responded in a big way, powering past the early leader and eventual second-place finisher Hello Sweetie Boy (Travis Seekman), and into command. The first quarter went in a moderate :28.2 while the winner covered the second panel in :27.4, getting to the half in :56.1.
Just as he did in his last two Open wins, knowing his horse is just as fast in the turns as he is in the straightaways, Wilfong sent He’zz A Wise Sky scampering to a quick :27.1 third quarter, opening up the lead and had plenty left for a 2-1/2 length triumph in 1:53 flat. Hello Sweetie Boy at 23-1 odds, was second best while the 13-1 longshot Town Gossip (Wyatt Avenatti) grabbed third-place honors.
The victory was He’zzz A Wise Sky’s 11th in 23 season starts and his 47th in 101 lifetimes trips to the starting gate for his owners Triple ZZZ Stable of Beecher, IL.
Hawthorne’s leading driver Casey Leonard brought home five more winners Sunday while Kyle Wilfong had a three-bagger.