by Mike Paradise, publicity director, Maywood Park
Melrose Park, IL — Whispers Spy out sprinted the overwhelming 2-5 favorite Johnny Be Cool N in the stretch and went on to capture Friday night’s $20,750 Free For All Handicap Pace at Maywood Park.
Whispers Spy’s ($12.80) New Year’s Eve 1:52.2 victory was his ninth for the 2004 season and on seven different racetracks for owners Topcat Racing Stable (New York) and Timothy Humerick (Ohio). And Whispers Spy chalked up his one and three-quarter length win over runner-up Johnny Be Cool N despite a two month layoff.
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“Seldon (trainer Ledford) had told me not to race this horse too hard since it was his first start at Maywood coming off a long layoff,” winning driver Andy Miller said. “My horse had a ton of pace and he drove great, and I wanted to do my best not to over race him. We got shuffled to last but that wound up being for the best as I ended up following Johnny Be Cool N.”
Papa Deck, Northern Sun and Tarver Hanover all left hard for the lead with Tarver Hanover going three-wide through the first turn and gaining command just before a quick :27.1 first quarter.
However, Mike Oosting took Northern Sun out of the two hole and quickly grabbed the lead in the second turn. After a :29.3 second quarter (:56.4), Northern Sun couldn’t keep the first up Live Out Loud (Tony Morgan) from rushing past with a :27.3 third quarter (1:24.2) with Johnny Be Cool N right on his back.
The heavy favorite took the lead at the top of the lane but couldn’t match strides with Whispers Spy through the stretch. The winner paced a :27.2 final panel and likely could have gone faster.
“This horse just cruised three-wide and was strong all the way to the wire,” said Miller. I never pulled the ear plugs.”
Whispers Spy ended his five-year-old season with $148,014 in purse earnings.
Fox Valley Perdito takes opening series leg
In the opening leg of the Fox Valley Redhot Series for state-bred fillies and mares, Fox Valley Perdito zipped up the open stretch with driver Pat Berry, blowing past the 8-5 favorite Nanny Withafanny and drawing off to a one and one-quarter length victory in 1:56.1.
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Maywood Park Photos
The 2-1 public’s second choice, Fox Valley Perdito ($6.20) gained early position in the seventh race 10 horse field, settling into third while the pacesetting Nanny Withafanny (Tim Tetrick) took the field to a :28.1 first quarter.
Nanny Withafanny got away with soft :30.1 and :29 middle quarters but when Western Shrimp (Andy Miller) vacated the pocket at the top of the lane, Fox Valley Perdito took advantage of the inside opening and came on to notch her second consecutive win for Illinois owners James Gleitsman, Donald Musillami and Scott Musillami. Nanny Withafanny held on for second, a half length ahead of the third place finisher Western Shrimp in the opening round series for ICF fillies and mares without four wins or $40,000 as of December 1, 2004.
“I thought I had a good shot in this race but I was a little nervous sitting in the three hole,” Berry said. “I thought I’d be able to loop Timmy (Tetrick) off the gate but that just didn’t happen. At the half I was hoping that Timmy wouldn’t shut the pace down too much, and at the three-quarters I thought that at the worst I’d be second from there. My mare was full of pace in the lane but I wasn’t sure if Timmy’s horse had enough left to hold on. As it turned out, she didn’t and my horse did.”
After going winless in her first 16 season’s starts as a four-year-old, Fox Valley Perdito was plucked out of a $12,000 claiming race by trainer Anthony Musillami on October 27. The Sportsmaster mare has since chalked up two wins, one second, and two thirds in six starts for her current connections.