by Tom Kelley, publicity director, Balmoral Park

Crete, IL — Flashing the form that made her one of last season’s top freshman pacing fillies in the Prairie State, Quaid Racing’s My Little Bit charged past nine rivals to post an impressive 4-1/4 length victory for driver Casey Leonard in Sunday’s (May 18) $48,100 Violet Stake at Balmoral Park.

The final time of 1:52.4 shaved a full second off the filly’s previous lifetime best.

Balmoral Park photo

My Little Bit and Casey Leonard posted a very impressive victory in Sunday’s $48,100 Violet Stake final.

Confidently handled by Balmoral’s leading reinsman, the daughter of Sportsmaster-Parade Of Love was reserved through the early stages of the race as Fox Valley Amanda (Dale Hiteman) and race favorite Buoncammino (Sam Widger) battled through splits of :28.1, :56 and 1:23.2.

Moving up in a nice second over position as the field turned for the money, Leonard tipped the Erv Miller trained miss to the far outside where she quickly starting picking off rivals with a potent closing kick. Taking command of the proceedings with a sixteenth of a mile to go, My Little Bit was on cruise control the rest of the way as she drew clear of her foes to score for the sixth time in 14 lifetime starts. Another Miller trainee, M A Refling (Lewayne Miller), rallied from ninth at the top of lane to be the bridesmaid while Fox Valley Amanda held on for third.

An $11,000 yearling purchase, My Little Bit now boasts more than $120,000 in earnings on the strength of a 6-2-1 record in 14 starts. The second choice in the wagering after finishing third in last week’s elimination, My Little Bit returned $8.60, $4.80 and $3.00.

Illinois conceived and foaled trotting fillies were also in action on Sunday night as a field of 10 were sent postward in a $10,000 Violet Stake elimination. The $47,000 final will be contested next weekend as part of the big Memorial Day weekend festivities.

Fresh off a nice win in her sophomore debut last week, Donald Huddleston’s Macie Rae was impressive again, posting a 4-1/4 length, wire-to-wire victory in 1:59.2 with Ryan Anderson at the controls.

Hustled right to the top from post position four, the Michael Rogers trained daughter of Powerful Emotion-Fox Valley Poetry put up splits of :30.2, 1:01.2 and 1:31 before sealing the deal with a sharp :28.2 final quarter to remain spotless in 2014. Fox Valley Lotus (John De Long) parlayed a perfect trip into a second place check while 55-1 longshot Graceful Spirit (Mike Brink) rallied to finish third.

With the win Macie Rae now sports a record of 10 wins, three seconds and three thirds in 21 starts with earnings of $32,867.