The Cardinal
Final
2 year old C&G
1.609m auto
Purse: 44 300$
RACE 8 - Balmoral Park - IL - October 20, 2010
Conditions: 2 Year Old Colt & Gelding Stake Final (Illinois Conceived & Foaled)
Gait: Trot Purse: $44,300 Class: Cardinal Distance: 1 mile Track Cond: FT
Temp-Allow: 63-0 Off Time: 9:31 PM
HN Horse Sire/Dam PP Finish Actual LQ Odds Driver Trainer
3 Hammer Head Armbro American-She`s Pumped 2 1/5Q 1:58.0 30.4 14.00 Marcus Miller Jerald Viviani
4 Sh`s Snap Shot Photo Color-S H Two 3 2/5Q 1:59.0 31.1 20.40 Jamaica Patton Jamaica Patton
1A Powerful Charger Powerful Emotion-Fox Valley Poetry 6 3/5T 1:59.1 32.0 E*0.50 Todd Warren Pamela Coleman
8 Anthonyskywalker Powerful Emotion-Queen Jamie 9 4/5T 1:59.1 30.2 71.90 Brett Ballinger Brett Ballinger
1 Powerful Position Powerful Emotion-Goosey Lucy 5 5/7 1:59.2 31.2 E*0.50 Brian Carpenter Pamela Coleman
6 Fox Valley Arrow International Chip-Armbro Top 7 6/7H 1:59.2 30.4 13.20 Dale Hiteman Joel Smith
7 Matter Of Guilt Garciaparra-Peace And Quiet 8 7/10H 2:00.0 31.4 26.20 Michael Oosting Randy Tuftie
2 Detailer Armbro Tropicana-Just Having Fun 1 8/17 2:01.2g 33.4 2.00 Dave Magee Robert Taylor
5 Big Train Rollin Winbak Adam-Dance N Action 4 9/22 2:02.2 32.3 66.80 Del Chupp Leo Grummel
1st Hammer Head (2, G Armbro American - She`s Pumped - Lv Glory Bound)
Registered Owner(s)/Lessee(s): Jerald Viviani - IL, Donna Viviani - IL, Sue Phillips - IL
Breeder(s): Sue Phillips - IL
2nd Sh`s Snap Shot (2, G Photo Color - S H Two - Cheyenne Spur)
Registered Owner(s): Ronald Phillips - IL, John Carver - IL, Jesse Ferge - CO
Breeder(s): Ronald Phillips - IL, Deloris Phillips - IL, John Carver - IL
3rd Powerful Charger (2, G Powerful Emotion - Fox Valley Poetry - Meadowbranch Jerzy)
Registered Owner(s): Jerry Graham - IL, Mystical Marker Farms LLC - IN, Pamela Coleman - IL
Breeder(s): Jerry Graham - IL, J Graham - IL
Cardinal and
Violet finals produce runaway winners
Illinois’ top 2-year-old trotters were back in action on Wednesday night (Oct. 20) at Balmoral Park as a field of nine diagonally gaited colts battled for supremacy in the $44,300 Cardinal Stake while 10 of their female counterparts squared off in the $45,850 Violet Stake.
The Cardinal final looked to be a two horse battle between division leaders Detailer and Powerful Charger but when the smoke cleared it was 14-1 outsider Hammer Head who wound up coming out on top with an impressive 5-1/4 length triumph in a lifetime best of 1:58.
Given a very confident steer by driver Marcus Miller (five wins on the night) the gelded son of Armbro American-She’s Pumped came away fourth in the early going as Powerful Charger (Todd Warren) and Detailer (Dave Magee) battled through an opening quarter in :28.3.
“My horse has a ton of gate speed but I knew those others would be out and winging for early position so I decided to try and back him off a bit tonight,” explained Miller.
Trotting down the backside Miller quickly moved Hammer Head to the outside and the Jerald Viviani trainee had no trouble trotting right by the favorites, leading the way by 2-1/4 lengths as the field reached the half in :58.2.
“I knew it was all the “big ones” up in front of us but they weren’t going very much at that point so I figured it was worth taking a shot to get to the front,” said Miller. “I figured what the heck, I’ll let them try and catch me tonight and my horse was very manageable once he made the lead.”
Continuing to show the way around the final turn Hammer Head was still in front as Warren decided to pull from the pocket as the field reached the three-quarter-mile mark in 1:27. At that point Dave Magee also tried to slide to the outside with Detailer but that move never really materialized as the gelding went offstride.
With Powerful Charger pulling right alongside of Hammer Head at the top of the lane Miller thought he might be in trouble, but only for a second.
“I know how tough the other horse is but once he got right alongside of us my horse really seemed to pick it up,” said a beaming Miller. “I saw Todd was driving pretty hard on his and my horse still felt fresh. I just chirped at him a few times and off he went.”
Quickly dispatching the 1-2 favorite Hammer Head opened up a three length advantage by the mid-stretch call and was under no pressure whatsoever as he reported home with his second win in 13 career starts. SH’s Snap Shot (Jamaica Patton), another longshot at 20-1, rallied late to finish second while Powerful Charger held on for third.
Owned by Jerald and Donna Viviani and Sue Phillips, Hammer Head now boasts earnings of $42,877. The 14-1 shot returned $30.00, $7.60 and $3.40.
