Whiskey Lou, trained by her driver Curt Grummel, goes postward in Saturday’s second $48,250 Violet stake division for ICF freshman trotting fillies. (Terry Young Photo) 

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

  When a trainer enters his or her horse into a stake event what is the first question he or she likely will ask? Most would answer: “What post did the horse draw?”

 While post position is much more important on a small track compared to a big oval, it does have strategic importance on a mile track as well, especially at Hawthorne.

 While Hawthorne boasts the longest stretch in the country at 1,320 feet, 330 longer than The Meadowlands, it also has one of the shortest distances from its starting point to the first turn. It’s not unusual to see a horse sprint out at Hawthorne from outside posts in a large field to be three and even four-wide in the first turn trying to make the front or find an up-close hole.

 Thus far this season Hawthorne has seen only ONE horse leaving from the 10-post that has had gone on to win a race in 55 starts. The winning percentage from the 10-slot is at a paltry 1.8 per cent. It’s better from the nine-hole but a 9.2 winning percentage isn’t an reassuring statistic for the betting public, either.

  It Could Be Worse: The Husted stable entered a trio of ICF freshman filly pacers into Saturday night’s Violet stakes with both bad and good results.

 The “bad” went to their recent Incredible Tillie champion Chickadee who landed the outside nine-slot in the first $28,550 division. The “good” saw Fox Valley Sadie, fresh off a strong win a week ago in a “Tillie” consolation event, secure the pole position in the second Violet split while stablemate Fox Valley Gina is good shape with the three post.

 Chickadee (Kyle Husted) has gone out for early position in her last six starts, five of them wins, and likely will again tonight. The Somestarsomewhere filly is in peak form and is expected to go off as the public’s choice.

 The Amy Husted trainee will be challenged by Fox Valley Reeva (Cordarius Stewart), Big Flicka (Wyatt Avenatti), Feisty Val (Cornelius Cavett), Platinum Shark (Casey Leonard), Hypeyourbestieup (Travis Seekman), Delight Moon (Todd Warren), Fox Valley Tasha (Brandon Bates) and Karatop Moose (Phil Knox), in that post-position order.

  Lady Luck was with the Husted barn in the second Violet grouping as Fox Valley Sadie (Kyle Husted) winner of 4 of her 7 season starts including a ISFCS division last month, was awarded the rail and their improving freshman Fox Valley Gina (Casey Leonard) two slots further out.

 On the other hand, one of Fox Valley Sadie’s dangerous rivals in the race, First of Her Name (Travis Seekman), is on the outside looking in with the 10-gap for trainer Nelson Willis. Another major contender, Illini Belle (Cordarius Stewart) starts in the middle of the pack from the five.

  Hoping to pull off an upset is Fox Valley Tatum (Wyatt Avenatti), Sour Grapes (Phil Knox), Cupid’s Revenge (Todd Warren), Unhynged Zenzero (Bobby Smolin) and Stevie Mae (Brandon Bates).

 Sandwiched in between the two Violet paces is the $48,250 Violet trot for state-bred juvenile filles. It’s another 10-horse field and this time Funky Wiggle’s two-year-old sister Calypso Moon (Casey Leonard) had the misfortune to land Hawthorne’s dreaded 10-post.

  The Lou Legacy prodigy won four of her first eight races, including a division of Du Quoin’s First Lady and two legs of the Fox Valley Flan series, but was too far back in the early going of the championship and finished third.

  Whiskey Lou (p.p. 2, Kyle Wilfong), a Curt Grummel stablemate of Calypso Moon who has been no worse than second in her seven carer outings, and Fox Valley Flan champion Stand By Your Man (Brandon Bates), from the barn of Springfield based trainer Mike Brink, will likely vie as to the post time favorite.

 Looking to put up a double-digit winning payoff is Dejoma (Cornelius Cavett), Peekaboo Lou (Travis Seekman), Lous Enchantress (Wyatt Avenatti), Gjlindagrit (Matt Avenatti), Ally Baba (Todd Warren), Illini Diva (Cordarius Stewart) and Honoloulou (Kyle Husted).

  Cardinal Wrap-ups: It was a rainy Friday night of racing on a sloppy track but that made little difference to the current ICF two-year-old pacing colt leader Gorgeous Big Guy, nicely rated by his driver Todd Warren in his first $25,825 Cardinal pace victory.

  The Erv Miller trained youngster led at every pole of a 1:54.4 mile at 1-5 odds for his sixth consecutive win for owners Doug Overhiser of Smyra Beach, Florida and Mark Winship of Canton, Illinois.

  The 95-1 longshot Erico Pallazzo (Travis Seekman) held off the late rushing 3-1 second choice Fox Valley Julian (Casey Leonard) for runner-up honors.

 The second $25,825 Cardinal split saw Your Can Never Tell pull off an upset at 8-1 odds in front-end fashion as well. Driver Casey Leonard sent the Herman Wheeler two-year-old trainee to the front from the six-slot where he had no trouble holding off the late rushes of Guitar Man and Fox Valley Durham, the co-favorites who finished second and third, respectively.

 The $19.00 winner is owned by the out-of-state threesome of Louisianans Adam Hawthorne (Marlboro) and Devin White (Cotton Valley) and William Johnson of Holiday, Texas.

  Despite drifting through the stretch, the Herman Wheeler trained freshman Shady Maple Alstar put on a late surge to capture the $47,950 Cardinal male trot. It was the second straight triumph for Sutton gelding, and both have come with Todd Warren at his lines.

 Little Chipper (Jared Finn) grabbed the early lead and cut fractions 30.4, 29.3 and 29.4 with Shady Maple Alstar in the pocket. Warren pulled the winner out going into the last turn and he proved best on the rain-soaked racing surface, two and one-half lengths the best in 1:59.3.

 Little Chipper held on for second while the 9-5 favorite Lous Private Eye Casey Leonard) settled for third.