by Tom Kelley, Balmoral Park Publicity Department

Crete, IL — The last four “major” stakes of the 2004 Balmoral Park racing season were contested on Saturday night as three-year-old pacers and trotters shared top billing in Hanover Stakes action.

Trotting colts kicked off the festivities as a compact field of five went postward for a purse of $70,000. Mary Katz, Kevin Thomas, Berto Stables and Nathan Fink’s good looking colt Justice Hall was the overwhelming 1-9 choice of the betting public and his legion of backers never broke a sweat as this son of Garland Lobell cruised to a two and three-quarter length triumph in 2:00.2 over a sloppy track.

Confidently handled by catch-driver Eric Ledford, this son of Garland Lobell was eased away from the gate and was content to sit on the outside through the first turn before grabbing command at the quarter-mile mark, which went in :29.4. “He was so much the best that I just wanted to make sure there were no miscues before I turned him loose,” explained his pilot.

Trotting comfortably on the front, Justice Hall was leading the way at the halfway point in :59.4.

Despite catching another breather on the far turn, Justice Hall was able to extend his advantage to three lengths as he led his rivals through three-quarters in 1:31.2.

“By that point I knew that there was no chance that anything in this field was going to be able to catch us,” said Ledford. “I actually shut him down even before the halfway point in the stretch.”

Even on cruise control the Kevin Thomas-trainee was able to maintain a comfortable advantage as he rolled under the wire with his sixth win of the season. Double Helix (Ron Marsh) took advantage of a pocket-sitting trip to get the place money while Two Weeks Notice (Richard Richardson) was third.

After the victory Ledford was thankful for the opportunity to drive such a top-flight colt.

“He’s been good all year as you can see by his bankroll of more than $450,000,” he said. “Getting to drive a 1-9 shot when you’re going for $70,000 is an absolute gift,” exclaimed a smiling Ledford.

Next up were sophomore trotting fillies as a full field of 10 diagonally gaited ladies slugged it out for a $67,200 jackpot.

When the smoke cleared from this battle it was Barnett Zimmerman’s Tady Strikes Again who wore down her rivals to post a late rushing three-quarter length victory in 1:59.4.

Content to bide her time near the back of the pack, Tady Strikes Again was trotting in eighth as Winning Missbrenda (Brent Holland) scooted away to a three length advantage as she rolled by the quarter in :29.4.

A hard charging Bramasole (Eric Ledford) made that a short-lived lead though as she powered into command as the field trotted towards the half-mile mark. Moving swiftly on the outside of horses that filly was up to lead by a length as she carried the field through the midway point in :59.3. Driver Tony Morgan was still patiently waiting to move with Tady Strikes Again and that strategy was definitely by design.

“They told me not to worry about getting too far back with her,” he explained. “They said she could come home in a big way so I wasn’t really worried at that point.”

A live outer flow developed on the far turn with R Royal Belle (Mike Oosting) leading the charge to engage her stablemate Bramasole. Clinging to a head advantage as the field reached the three-quarter station in 1:31.1, Bramasole was digging in for that challenge while also bracing for the three-wide sweep of Olympics (Dave Magee), who was leading up Tady Strikes Again.

A heated stretch drive ensued with a very game Bramasole still holding firm on the front end. Olympics continued to gain ground on the outside of horses while R Royal Belle began to fade just a bit. On the far outside of horses the 9-5 favorite Tady Strikes Again was continuing to gobble up ground with her long fluid strides.

“She needed somebody to get down there in a decent time and somebody to lead her up,” said Morgan. “Dave’s horse was very live so that worked out perfectly for us.”

Coming to the wire disaster struck for the pace setting Bramasole as she made a very costly break. That allowed a hard charging Tady Strikes Again to go charging by for her 10th win in 15 starts this year. Bramasole hung on for second but was disqualified and placed fifth for failure to lose ground while on a break. That moved Olympics into the place spot while R Royal Belle went from fourth to third.

In the winner’s circle Morgan was more than happy to sing the praises of this daughter of Striking Sahbra. “Virgil (Morgan) told me she was pretty sharp right now and I was very impressed with her,” gushed her driver. “She was a little skippy in the first turn but after that she settled down and was all business from there on.”

Next up were three-year-old pacing fillies as a field of 11 butted heads for a purse of $62,700.

Once again it was the favorite who prevailed in this battle as Arthur and Shirley Le Vin’s Nu-Diamond Star continued a superb second season with a half length triumph in 1:55.3.

The 4-5 choice of the betting public was floated away from post position three allowing a hard charging Aries Conquest (Dave Magee) to grab command as she rolled through an opening quarter in :28.3.

Driver Ron Marsh had his filly out and going shortly thereafter and Nu-Diamond Star quickly grabbed command, opening up a one and one-quarter length advantage as she clicked off a half-mile in :56.4.

“She usually doesn’t like to race up close like that,” explained Marsh. “But with all the mud on the track I didn’t want her getting hit in the face with that for a long time so I decided to test her.”

Cruising around the far turn, last week’s Cinderella Stake winner was gamely holding on to a half length lead. R Burning Desire (Eric Ledford) bravely continued a first-over bid into second while Aries Conquest was in the pocket third as the ladies moved by the three-quarter mark in 1:26.4.

Heading down the stretch Nu-Diamond Star seemed to find another gear as she quickly stepped away to a one and three-quarter length lead again. Female Champs (Tony Morgan), who had worked out a nice second over trip, was trying to gain ground in second while Princess Justice (Dale Hiteman) had moved into contention in third.

Responding to the urging of her pilot, Nu-Diamond Star continued to cling to her advantage as she reported home with her third straight win and the eighth score of an 18 race second season. Female Champs was a hard fought second while Princess Justice was five and three-quarter lengths back in third.

After yet another victory conditioner Homer Hochstetler was singing the praises of not only his prize filly but also his driver.

“Ronnie has done a nice job of not over using her in her races and that is why she’s still so fresh this late in the year,” he said. “This filly has continued to mature but I’d like to give her a little rest, so I’ll keep her racing just enough to stay qualified before shipping her to The Meadowlands in February of 2005.”

The final Hanover of the night brought out a field of 12 three-year-old pacing colts as they looked for the winner’s share of a $71,700 jackpot.

This figured to be the most wide-open of the four stake events and it proved to be just that as Mike Polansky’s Artiology pulled off the mild upset with a two and three-quarter length verdict in 1:53.1.

Hustled away from the gate by driver Tony Morgan, Artiology grabbed a brief lead in the first turn before relenting to a fired up Live Out Loud (Tim Tetrick), who came steamrolling away from the gate to lead the field through a brisk opening quarter of :27.4.

“We’ve been ducking this horse for most of the year and he’s really been closing well,” said morgan. “It was time to get him into the action a little earlier so that’s why I left so quickly with him tonight.”

The torrid pace continued on the backstretch as Live Out Loud kept a head in front of Around The Fur (Charles Conrad) as those two paced by the half-mile mark in :54.2. Artiology was content to save ground in the pocket as the top two battled tooth and nail for command.

That battle continued around the far turn and that suited Morgan and Artiology just perfectly.

“Once Timmy (Tetrick) didn’t let Charlie (Conrad) clear I knew we were going to be in good shape,” he explained. “They were going fast enough to keep things strung out so finding room was not a big concern for me.”

With the three-quarter timer flashing 1:24.1 it was still a wide-open affair as the first seven horses were within six lengths of the leaders.

Through the lane a game Live Out Loud continued to cling tenaciously to a one length advantage. Artiology was getting set to pounce on the pace-setter while another Illinois-bred (Prince Vince) was steaming up the passing lane with a ton of pace. But it was Artiology who got the jump on this night as he charged home with his sixth win in 26 trips postward. Prince Vince, a 20-1 outsider, turned in a very solid effort to rally for second while Live Out Loud struck another blow for the Illinois breeding program with a solid third place finish.