Thee countdown to the Southland Festival of Racing, one of the biggest weekends of the harness racing season for Illinois conceived and foaled pacers and trotters, began in earnest on Saturday, July 18th with a bevy of elimination action highlighting a big 12-race program.
Freshmen pacing colts kicked off the non-stop action with a trio of Mini Me Stake elimination's attracting a total of 21 youngsters.
The top three finishers in each elimination along with one fourth place finisher will be back next week for the $48,000 (est,) final.
The gelded son of Sportsmaster–Wondrous Grace strolled through splits of 29.3, 58.3 & 1:27.2 before sealing the deal with a 27.2 final quarter to notch his third win in four career starts for the partnership of Stephen Mc MacKin, Marilyn Kelly and Lorna Roush.
Shootin To Kill (Mike Oosting) rallied late to finish as the runner-up while Fox Valley Chino (Kyle Wilfong) was a solid third. Dakota Road was fourth.
Sent to the top after an opening quarter in 30.2 the gelded son of Ashlee's Big Guy–Caribe Royale cruised through middle splits of 59.1 & 1:28.0 before putting on the finishing touches with a 27.2 to notch his third win in four lifetime starts.
BS Tyrrific (Kyle Wilfong) was a game second while Silver Sage (Mike Oosting) grabbed the dough. JB's Hero was fourth.
Gobbling up ground on the outside of horses, Dan D Dune rolled right on by his rivals in the lane to post his second win in four lifetime starts.
Sagebrush Sid (Todd Warren) staged a nice late rally to finish second while Goinduneside (Casey Leonard) was third after encountering some traffic issues in the stretch.
Shrugging off the difficult journey Char N Marg still had enough left to overtake the pace setter with an eighth of a mile to go holding firm to the wire as a hard charging LK's Nancy Lee (Tim Curtin) came flying through the passing lane to be the bridesmaid.
Likeafireballshot (Jared Finn) was a solid third while Fox Valley Gypsy and Lexirose also secured spots in next week's final. The win was the second in four starts for Char N Marg
Exploding home in 27.4 the full sister to Lucpark zipped right by the leaders to grab her first victory in start number three.
Fox Valley Addison (Todd Warren) finished second while Sara's Terror held on for third. Burry Me Inthesand was fourth while Fox Valley Bailey grabbed the last spot in next week's final.
Sophomore pacing fillies were next on the docket as a field of 10 were sent postward in an $8,000 Ann Vonian Stake elimination.
The top nine finishers will be joined by Lex in the $45,000 (est.) final next week.
After a prolonged stretch duel Fox Valley Charm managed to poke a head in front then held sway for her sixth win in 15 lifetime starts for owner Peter Karras.
Fox Valley Aubrey was a game second while Southern Girl (Casey Leonard) was third. Also gaining spots in the final with their fourth through ninth place finishes were BS Tyrichess, Sportsmuffler, Angel Demon, Duneside Perttie, Foxy Ellie and Cowgirl Chic.
Rounding out the elimination action were three-year-old pacing colts as a field of 10 slugged it out in an $8,000 Incredible Finale Stake elimination.
Again, the top nine finishers will join Earndawg in the $44,500 (est.) final next week.
Confidently handled by Oosting, the bay gelding stormed up first over to engage pace setting Engine One O One (Brian Carpenter) off splits of 28.0, 54.4 & 1:23.1 then sped away from that one in the lane to post his third win in nine starts this season.
Dinky Dune (Pat Curtin) rallied up well to finish second while Engine One O One held on for third. Also gaining spots in the final were Dakota Roadster, Frosty Dune, Dixie's Boy, Fox Valley Elijah, Casey At Bat and DuPage's Z Tam.
The elimination action continues on Sunday, July 19th, with a field of 10 trotters battling in the $8,000 Fox Valley Flan Stake for two-year-old trotting fillies.
The top eight finishers will be back to join Vengeful and Awfully Emotional in the $45,000 (est.) final next week.
Once again the action gets underway at 7:10pm on Sunday night and as always the $1 Pick 4 (races 7-10) features a $25,000 guaranteed pool.
The 10-cent Hi Five also features a guaranteed pool now with a $15,000 guarantee on the line in the "ultimate get out bet" (race 10).
Tom Killey