by Tom Kelley, publicity director, Balmoral Park

Crete, IL — With a two night carryover of nearly $30,000 and a $100,000 guaranteed pool helping to fuel interest, the eyes and wallets in the harness racing world were trained on races two through six on Wednesday night (Feb. 22) at Balmoral Park.

Looking for that one big “score,” fans poured another $140,945 through the betting windows, making the final pool for the 50 cent wager a whopping $170,627, the second largest in Balmoral Park history.

A bevy of mid-priced and longshot winners throughout the five-race sequence provided three lucky fans just that opportunity with the surprises resulting in a winning payout of $44,675.10 for a 50 cent wager. That amount was the largest Pick-5 payout in Balmoral Park history.

Hazel May (Todd Warren, $21.40), a 9-1 shot kicked things off by scoring in race two. Buddy Simpson, at age 81, then piloted 5-1 shot Blissfull Dreamer ($13.20) to victory in race three. Shax (Sam Widger, $13.20) shook off a 10-month layoff and post position nine to score in stretch rushing style in race four. Widger was right back in the winner’s circle in race five as he steered Degeneration X, the biggest price of the night at $31.40, through the passing lane for his first victory of the season. The wager was capped off in race six as Kitty O’Brien (Josh Sutton) came flying late to win at odds of 7-1 ($16.40).

In that race, Margot T (Dean Magee), who was uncovered in the wagering action and would have resulted in a three straight carryover, actually put a neck in front in the late going but was collared in the closing yards.

The winning sequence of numbers was 2-7-9-5-3.

Wagering was strong during the entire 10-race program on Wednesday night, resulting in a final handle of $1,059,524 at the Crete plant.