by Tom Kelley, publicity director, Balmoral Park

Crete, IL — The Illinois conceived and foaled stakes action continued on Sunday night (April 1) at Balmoral Park as a field of eight 3-year-old pacing fillies met for the $12,000 Direct Balance Stake.

Balmoral Park photo

Rich N Fancy was a 1:55.4 winner in the Direct Balance Stake.

Fresh off a wire-to-wire victory in her 2012 debut at Maywood Park last week, Kenneth Hughes’ good looking filly Rich N Fancy lived up to her 2-5 status of the betting public as she cruised to a deceptively easy 2-3/4 length victory in 1:55.4 with driver-trainer John Roberts at the controls.

Content to let a hard charging Justa Sweetheart (Mike Oosting) grab command in the first turn, Roberts had Rich N Fancy sitting in the garden spot as the field cruised past the opening station in :29. The daughter of Richess Hanover–Anxious Blaze was then pointed for the front by Roberts and she had no trouble wrestling control away from the early pacesetter, leading the way by the halfway point in a leisurely :59.4.

The issue was never really in doubt from that point on as Rich N Fancy continued to show the way by three–quarters in 1:28.3. Justa Sweetheart was struggling to keep up with the heavy favorite while T E’s Zenyatta (Todd Warren) moved into third with a first over bid as the field straightened for home.

With plenty left in the tank, Roberts then asked the five-time winner for a little something extra and she responded beautifully, opening up a four length advantage by the mid-stretch call. On cruise control the rest of the way, Rich N Fancy reported home under wraps, posting her sixth win in eight lifetime starts. The Face Of Love (Marcus Miller) rallied from far back to be the bridesmaid while T E’s Zenyatta finished third.

Bet as though defeat was out of the question, Rich N Fancy returned $2.80, $2.20 and $2.10 while running her career earnings up to $25,422.

The total handle of $1,281,703 also helped Balmoral complete one of the most successful weeks in the past few years as handles for all three nights of racing exceeded $1 million, proving once again that the Balmoral signal is gaining support throughout all of North America.