Hawthorne puts on eventful day

Hawthorne puts on eventful day

Saturday's Illinois Festival of Racing at Hawthorne Race

Course drew full fields as the six-contest afternoon for Illinois breds produced many exciting finishes and multiple beaten

favorites.

Lamont Nienast LLC's SYNCO PEACH (Whadjathink) dueled with

Jaguar City (Slew City Slew) through a

quick :22 3/5 opening quarter in the $101,700 Powerless

H., a six-furlong sprint

contested by six fillies and mares. The four-year-old then drew

away from her rival, getting the half in :46 2/5, five-eighths in

:58, and stopping the clock in 1:11 for the fast track affair, 2

1/2-lengths ahead. Piloted by Larry Sterling Jr., the bay

returned $6.60, $3.20, and $2.80, keying a $17.40 exacta. Jaguar

City, the post-time favorite held on gamely for second, giving

back $3 and $2.80. Fighting Fever (Fit to Fight) was third,

paying $4.20 and finishing off a $87.40 trifecta.

This was the first stakes win for the Percy Scherbenske

trainee, who improved her mark to 11-7-1-1 to go along with

earnings of $221,400.

In the $100,875 Lightning Jet

H., Terry Renfrow and Eugene

Young's SILVER BID (Buckbean) was vindicated after finishing

second in this contest last year. Sent off as the 2-1 favorite,

the six-year-old stalked the pace from off the rail under Carlos

Montalvo before taking over in the stretch and holding on for the

1 1/4-length win. The gray drilled the teletimer at

1:10 2/5 for the six-furlong affair and improved her overall mark

for conditioner Joel Berndt to 40-15-11-5 and earnings of $586,301.

Bob and Nancy Bartels' BLUESBDANCING (Golden Gear) gave

Montalvo his second stakes win of the day when the juvenile miss

took the $97,400 Showtime Deb S. after heavy favorite Toll Taker

(Bernstein) stumbled at the start and unseated her rider. Just a

head back at the first call, Montalvo and his mount took the lead

and was3 1/4-lengths  clear at the wire to stop the clock in 1:12 1/5

for the six furlongs. Now undefeated in three starts, the Terrel

Gore trainee moved her earnings to $93,840.

Sterling was the leading rider for the Festival with three wins, with his second coming in the $90,225

Sun

Power S. aboard Ron Armstrong & John Wallace's HUMOR AT LAST (Distorted Humor).

Dueling with post-time favorite Stormy Afternoon (Afternoon

Deelites), the gray drew away in the stretch to take the six

furlong affair by 2 1/4-lengths in 1:11 3/5. The

Anthony Mitchell-trained juvenile pushed his record

to two wins from two starts with earnings of $69,735.

In the $99,000 Illini

Princess, Richard Rudolph and Michael

Vranich's CASHMERE MISS (Kokand) pulled off the upset of the day

when Carlos Silva piloted the four-year-old home at 13-1.

Rewarding her backers with $29.20, the chestnut miss recorded a

time of 1:46 for the 1 1/16-mile contest while winning by 2 1/4

lengths. Trained by Spanky Broussard, she owns a record of 28-6-5-8

to match earnings of $290,613.

Russell L. Reineman Stable, Inc.'s HOME OF STARS (Home at Last)

gave Sterling his third win of the day when the two were first

under the wire in the $96,275 High Alexander H. Conditioned by Frank

Springer, the four-year-old gelding stopped the clock in 1:45 1/5 for the

8 1/2-furlong event, 1 3/4-lengths ahead of

his nearest rival. The gray improved his mark to 15-5-3-3 and

has earned $192,126.