Hinsdale, IL – The Flacco Family Farms’ reigning Illinois champion sire Lou’s Legacy must be a very proud papa. Six of the eight Illinois State Fair Colt Stake eliminations were won by his sons or daughters Friday afternoon at Springfield.
Moving on to next Thursday’s ISFCS championships were “Lou’s” offspring What A Legacy (Kyle Wilfong), Whiskey Lou (Casey Leonard), Louise’s Legacy (Marcus Miller), Mustang Danny (Leonard), Lous Mandalorian (Travis Seekman), and Lous Private Eye (Leonard).
The two non-Lou’s Legacy elimination winners were the 3-year-old filly Fox Valley Tiegen (Marcus Miller), a daughter of Can’t Afford It, and Charles Arthur’s homebred Class Included filly High Class Heidi (Juan Franco) who popped at 55-1 and paid a whopping $113.60. The longshot’s 2:00.3 winning time was nearly an astonishing eight seconds off his previous best.
A quartet of 2-year-old colt and gelding pacing eliminations were contested and only the first two finishers in each event were assured of making the $55,000 championship.
The Walker family’s homebred Battlin Bob made it four-for-four lifetime and looked strong doing it. The Somestarsomewhere gelding, out of the former champion mare Bucklegirl Bobette, breezed in a snappy 1:53.2, knocking almost three full seconds off his previous best time. Fox Valley Pepper was the runner-up.
The Tom Simmons stable’s Fox Valley Vitali (Leonard) followed and tied an Illinois season mark for freshman with a robust 1:53.1 clocking. Peace Star (Kyle Husted) was second.
If those first pair of juvenile elimination conquerors were impressive, what can be said by the winning performance in the third heat by the Minnesota invader Cash Money Twenty, Leonard’s sixth winner of the day. Now trained by Springfield Mike Brink, the Stevensville gelding rattled off a sizzling 1:51.2 mile and did it with authority.
The second-place horse PD’s Diamond Hope (Wyatt Avenatti) cut very swift fractions of :25.4, :54.2 and 1:23.3 but was no match for the winner who drew off to win by 7-1/4 lengths.
Travis Seekman nailed down a “driving triple” on the card when he steered the Rob Rittof trained Fox Valley Mamba to a 1:54.4 maiden win in the fourth elimination. Also making the final was the runner-up Captain Nate (Marcus Miller).
The other Friday elimination winners were RK’s Smack (Leonard), Beautybythebeach (Marcus Miller) and Thebeautifulthings (Husted), all in the 2-year-old filly pacing division.
More on the Menu: It’s day two at the Fairgrounds in Springfield to determine the finalists for next Thursday’s (Aug. 15) Illinois State Fair Colt Stakes championships and the 3-year-old pacing filly category came up especially strong.
With 23 state-bred gals entered for its ISFCS eliminations, three divisions are necessary to be raced Saturday (Aug. 10). The first three finishers in each will move along to its final along with one fourth place finisher. She’ll be determined by a draw.
The highly regarded Hypeyourbestieup (Seekman) from the Jamaica Patton stable is the 6-5 morning line favorite. She’s riding a two-race wining streak and is four for six in her second season
The Terry Leonard stable’s Dandy’s Ms Swifty (Leonard) looks to be in great shape a race later. The Stevenville prodigy is in peak form as the 2-1 second choice on the morning line behind Adalecia (9-5) and will be looking to make it three wins in a row.
However, the fifth race third split doesn’t have a “stick out.” Far from it. Three of the best fillies in the division, Fox Valley Sadie (Husted), Amy Mooss (Matt Avenatti) and Ticktock Ticktock (Marcus Miller), will go to the starting gate alongside each other in post positions two through four.
Violet champion Amy Mooss, from the barn of Dane May, and the stake’s runner-up Fox Valley Sadie, trained by Amy Husted, both are looking for their fourth season triumph while the Erv Miller stable’s Ticktock Ticktock is fresh off a victory at The Red Mile.
Gorgeous Big Guy (Marcus Miller) and Guitar Man (Seekman), the two highest rated 3-year-old state bred male pacers drew into separate elimination divisions, so we’ll have to wait five days to see their anticipated match-up.
Only a fifth-place finish or higher is needed to gain that division’s $45,000 showdown.
ISFCS eliminations were not needed for the other 3-year-old ICF events or for older horses. Instead, prep races have been carded Saturday, and since a start in an elimination or prep is mandatory to compete in a championship, such Illinois past champions as He’zzz A Wise Sky, Fox Valley Gemini, Fox Valley Landen, Scoreboard Dandy, Fox Valley Exploit, Nico Man and Lousdobb will be in action on Saturday’s 11-race program.
Making her first start as a 5-year-old is the Curt Grummel trained Funky Wiggle, who missed most of last year’s campaign with lameness issues. The Lou’s Legacy filly was the 2023 Illinois Harness Horse of the Year.
Funky Wiggle landed the rail and comes off a winning 1:57.1 qualifier with Kyle Husted, who drives today. Her stablemate Marvelous Mystery (p.p. two, Wilfong) returns after a year off. Now four, she dominated her division as a 3-year-old, racking up 10 wins.
Among their sixth race challengers is the talented 6-year-old mare Loulita (Leonard) from the barn of Steve Searle. Another daughter of Lou’s Legacy, Loulita (p.p. 6six is in peak form, proving best in three of her four last starts, including a lifetime best clocking of 1:55.3 in mid-July at Du Quoin.