Goomster (Travis Seekman) was all alone at the finish of Monday’s $11,100 Open trot at Hawthorne. (Four Footed Fotos). 

By Mike Paradise for the IHHA 

 The old adage “If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It” holds true in most everything and that includes racing horses. Driver Kyle Wilfong used the same tactic Monday night at Hawthorne as he did a week earlier, and the result was another impressive front-stepping victory for Illinois champion He’zzz A Wise Sky in the $11,100 Open Pace.

 Wilfong sent the 3-5 prohibitive favorite out from the four-slot in the five-horse co-feature, quickly grabbed the lead before the 27.2 first quarter, coasted to a 55.1 half and then opened up on the field like he did in He’zzz A Wise Sky’s previous start with a 27.1 third quarter and coasted to a winning 1:50.4 mile.

 At one time in the lane the John Filomeno trained winner had a six-length lead on the pocket horse Hello Sweetie Boy (Travis Seekman) who faded to fifth at the finish as Captain Sleaze (Casey Leonard) came on for runner-up honors, some four lengths behind the six-year-old Illinois home bred at the finish.

 He’zzz A Wise Sky’s ($3.20) win was his tenth of the season and the Yankee Skyscraper offsring’s 46th in at even 100 lifetime starts. It doesn’t take a math major to know that’s a sparkling 46 per cent winning clip. The win boosted his career purse earnings to just under $655,00 for his owners, Triple ZZZ Stable of Beecher, Illinois.

 The race went off about 50 minutes later than scheduled because of an earlier malfunction of the starting car’s wings. From the second race on it was a “gentleman’s start” for each wingless event.

 The $11,100 Open trot was next up, and it was a dominate performance from the 1-5 overwhelming favorite Goomster (Travis Seekman) at the end of a 1:55.3 mile.

 Four of the trotters in the six-horse field went out for the lead with Goomster (No. 5) three wide in the first turn and Perlucky (No. 6, Casey Leonard) four deep. Goomster got to the front, but Perlucky quickly swept by and grabbed command. The Jim Eaton trained six-year-old took the field to moderate fractions of 29 flat and 58 flat with Seekman biding his time with Goomster in the two-hole.

 Goomster came out in the las turn before the three-quarters pole (1:27.1) and steadily pulled away in the lane, ending up about six lengths the best over Perlucky. Trained by Desiree Seekman and owned by Dennis Gardner of West Salem, Illinois, Goomster’s win was his 15th in 19 season tries and pushed his three-year-old bankroll over the $150,000 level.