by Timothy M. Jones, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Springfield, IL — Margins of victory can be somewhat deceptive at times. Narrow finishes can range from, “Wow, that was close!” — to “I have no idea who won” — and then there is the narrowest of margins in, “Are you kidding me?!” Any of those fit the four-horse blanket finish in the Illinois State Fair Colt Stakes 3-year-old colt pace final on Wednesday afternoon (August 15) in Springfield.

By the time the 10-horse field hit the quarter in a blazing :26.1, the lead had already changed hands three times. Marcus Miller rolled Crime Of Passion into the first turn from post position eight, only to be headed by Urawomanizer (John Roberts) who led at that station.

Zall Good came out on top in the tight photo in a time of 1:50.

Meanwhile, Dave Magee had sent NJ’s Big Deal from third on the rail on a first up charge and into the lead racing up the backstretch. NJ’s Big Deal led from that point on, through a :53.4 half and 1:21.2 three-quarters.

Down the stretch they raced, four horses in contention to reel in Magee’s horse and earn the bulk of the $40,000 purse. Elimination winner Ice Scraper (Kyle Wilfong) raced second, Urawomanizer charged in third. Todd Warren pulled Zall Good three-wide from a second over trip, racing fourth down the middle of the track.

Those four hit the wire in a blanket finish, stopping the timer on the toteboard at 1:50, also resulting in the “Are you kidding me?!” exclamation at the stellar finish.

Zall Good’s charted neck victory of 1:50 seemed much closer. In fact, seven of the 10 horse field crossed the finish line in 1:50.3 or better.

Winning driver Todd Warren thought he could get up for the win, but with that many horses involved, couldn’t be certain.

“I thought I could get there. You know, you can’t see the inside horses from out there (middle of the track). But after we hit the wire I kind of peaked over there and thought I had got up by that neck.

“We got a good trip. Kyle (Wilfong behind Ice Scraper) pulled early and carried me to the front. They were tired up front, racing pretty hard.”

Zall Good, a Yankee Skyscaper-Fox Valley Estella gelding is owned by Mary Jane Anderson, and now sports a new lifetime mark of 1:50.

Timothy M. Jones photos

Vaporstar scored in 1:55.2 for driver Dave Magee.

Vaporstar, the division leader of 3-year-old colt trotters, didn’t disappoint as the bettors’ heavy pre-race favorite in the Colt Stakes final for his gender.

Although winning his elimination, the luck of the draw saddled the Vaporize-Starlicious gelding with post nine in this contest. With regular pilot Dave Magee at the helm, the Mike Brink trainee led at every call. Crossing the finish line in 1:55.2, he was two lengths better than runner-up Recollection (Kyle Wilfong) and another quarter length better than third place finisher Blown Away (Marcus Miller).

“Mike (trainer Mike Brink) made a couple changes on him for today that actually made him better than last week in the elim. The horse rolls along pretty easily, and did this pretty much on his own,” described Magee following the win.

A repeat Colt Stakes champ from his freshman season, Vaporstar is owned by the partnership of Fox Valley Standardbreds, Harold Carter, and Joshua Carter.