Hawthorne’s leading driver Casey Leonard guided both of Sunday’s Pop-Up series winners. (Terry Young Photo) 

By Mike Paradise for the I.H.H.A.

  Casey Leonard completed a driving sweep of Hawthorne’s Pop-Up series for ICF freshmen horses Sunday night when he guided Lou’s Amazon and Mazin Blazin to victories in their respective events.

 The Steve Searle trained Lou’s Amazon ($3.40) showed she was the best in the state-bred two-year-old trot series with her third consecutive triumph in the $20,000 final with a 1:58.2 clocking.

 The race couldn’t work out any better for Casey and the daughter of Lou’s Legacy. Lou’s Amazon had a two-hole trip in the early going before the 46-year-old Harvard, Illinois native took the big filly out and rolled to the front on the backside. Once there, the outcome wasn’t in doubt. She prevailed by more than one length over Lous Enchantress (Todd Warren)

 The win was the sixth in 15 season starts for the late-blooming trotter owned and bred by Flacco Family Farms of Alexis, Illinois.

 Mazin Blazin’s victory in the Pop-Up series for first season male pacers was far from an easy one. The 1-2 favorite had to make up 13 lengths in the last three-quarters of the mile to be a nose better than Doctor Cruise (Kyle Husted) at the finish wire who had never got a breather in the race.

 The Terry Leonard trained Mazin Blazin was still eighth and some six lengths off the lead at the three-quarter pole (1:29.3) but managed to get up in the final stride to win in 1:56, the fourth time in seven freshman starts for owner and breeder Donald Laufenberg of Highland, Wisconsin.

  Casey had four winners on the night to increase his lead in the driver stands to six, 61 to 55, over Cordarius Stewart.

 Twin Features: Hawthorne’s Open headliners will double-up this Monday evening.

 The $11,100 Open for pacers will go as part of the early Daily Double (race two) with He’zzz A Wise Sky (Kyle Wilfong) and Hello Sweetie Boy (Travus Seekman) dueling after posting victories in their respective last starts.

 The Triple ZZZ Stable’s He’zzz A Wise Sky (p,p, 5) was given a heady drive by Wilfong a week ago, opening up in the third quarter and going on to win comfortably in 1:52.3 on a track listed fast but was a bit off because of the weather conditions.

  Hello Sweetie Boy (p.p. 6) is on a three-race winning streak for trainer and owner Kimberly Roth. The five-year-old gelding was scratched “sick” last Monday. A week earlier Seeman provided Hello Sweetie Boy a two-hole journey and the son of Aracache Hanover overtook He’zzz A Wise Sky in the final strides.

 Looking to pull off an upset over the likely co-favorites are Machdavid (Kyle Husted), Captain Sleaze (Casey Leonard) and Fox Valley Ozzy (Gary Rath), from posts one, two, and three, respectively.

 The third race Open for trotters will follow with a six-horse field consisting of Reign And Shine (Cordarius Stewart), first-time Hawthorne starter Flat Out Foxy (Kyl Husted), Annas Lucky Star (Kyle Wilfong), Rockyroad Aldo (Robert Smolin), Goomster (Travis Seekman) and Perlucky (Casey Leonard), in that order.