Following a seven win night on Saturday, driver Mike Oosting continued to dominate the Southland Festival of Racing action at Balmoral Park, winning Sunday's Fox Valley Evita Stakes
Oosting Guided Derek Jacobus and Kevin Kline’s Divination to a three-quarter-length score in Sunday’s $45,000 for Illinois conceived and foaled three-year-old trotting fillies.
Confidently handled by Balmoral’s leading reinsman, the daughter of Southwind Breeze—Hocus Pocus was an unhurried fifth through the early stages as the Robert Taylor-owned and trained entry of Little Ms Chrissy and Just For Fun (Casey Leonard) led the field through opening splits of :28.4 and :57.3.
Flushing out cover from a first over Trot Fudge Sundae (Dave Magee) as the field moved around the far turn, Oosting had Divination in a perfect second over striking position as Little Ms Chrissy showed the way by the three-quarter-mile mark in 1:26.4.
“I knew it was time to go before those fillies up front got away from us,” said Oosting. “I needed to make the leaders go on because I didn’t know if my filly could out trot them from where we were. Getting cover was just an added bonus for us.”
Through the stretch, a hard-charging Divination took dead aim on a leg weary Little Ms Chrissy. Cruising down the center of the racetrack, the five-time winner in 2013 swallowed up the pacesetter with a sixteenth of a mile to go and quickly drew clear for the victory. Little Ms Chrissy held on for second while Just For Fun was third.
“This filly is really starting to find her best stride right now,” said the red-hot Oosting. “She has always been right there with this group, but she’s had a tough time getting by them. Nick [Prather] has done a great job getting her to come around at just the right time and it could be a very nice summer for her.”
With the win, Divination now boasts a career record of 6-8-2 in 25 starts with earnings of $61,930. The third choice in the compact field of five betting interests returned a healthy win mutuel of $10. There was no place or show wagering.
The 50 cent Pick 5 wager was not hit on Sunday night so a carryover of $10,288 will be added to Wednesday’s Pick 5. In conjunction with the USTA Strategic Wagering Council, Balmoral Park has announced that there will be a $40,000 guaranteed pool for Wednesday’s Pick 5. The Pick 5 entails races two through six each night and post time for Wednesday’s second race is expected to be 7:25 p.m. (central). Free past performances for the Pick 5 and the $20,000 guaranteed Pick 4 on Wednesday can be found by visiting trackmaster.com or ustrotting.com.
(Balmoral Park)