Contact: Tom Kelley
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TROTTERS SHINE IN SUNDAY STAKE ACTION

Illinois conceived and foaled trotters were in stakes action on Sunday night as diagonally gaited three-year-old fillies met in the $50,000 Violet Stake Final. Their male counterparts slugged it out in the $50,000 Cardinal Stake Final later in the night.

Go Go Gabby holds off the challenge of Victor's Finesse to win Sunday's $50,000 Violet Stake for three-year-old trotting fillies.

The Violet match-up featured a pair of undefeated sophomores in Go Go Gabby and Victor’s Finesse. These fillies did not disappoint their legion of backers as they hooked up in a thrilling duel for the final half-mile. When the smoke cleared it was Roger Welch and Robert & Phillip Rietveld’s Go Go Gabby who had prevailed by three-quarters of a length in a career best of 1:55.3.

Sent right to the top by the red-hot Dave Magee (10 wins on the weekend) Go Go Gabby was parked through an opening quarter in 28.0.

After finally gliding over to the pylons mid-way down the backstretch the Roger Welch trained miss was able to get a bit of a breather as she trotted through middle splits of 57.3 and 1:27.4.

Holding her main rival at bay as the fillies trotted around the far turn, Go Go Gabby was asked for her best by Magee as the field straightened for home. After battling neck and neck until the eighth-pole, the daughter of Valley Victor seemed to find another gear as she rebuffed the challenge of Victor’s Finesse, drawing clear in the final 100 yards, to post her sixth straight victory in 2006. Victor’s Finesse, the 3-5 favorite of the betting public, was forced to settle for the bridesmaid role on this night while Hi-Tri turned in a solid effort to finish third, four lengths behind the winner.

Despite posting just two wins in 12 starts last season Go Go Gabby still managed to earn a very respectable $85,000 for her connections. A perfect six for six record this year has added another $81,000+ to that total giving this filly lifetime earnings of just over $167,000. Sent off as the second choice in the wagering, Go Go Gabby returned $6.20, $2.80 & $2.20.

Kan Wire (inside) and Brent Holland pulled off the upset in Sunday's $50,000 Cardinal Stake final as they prevailed by a hard fought head over Andy Miller and Dancing Offtoplay.

The Cardinal Final produced a shocking upset as Jerry & Helen Logan’s 15-1 outsider, Kan Wire, held off the furious late rally of Dancing Offtoplay to win by a head in a career best of 1:57.3.

Taking advantage of miscues behind the gate by three of his rivals, including even-money favorite Litigator, Kan Wire was allowed to settle in third as Crown Vic (Dave Magee) led the field through an opening quarter in a leisurely 30.2.

Driver Brent Holland had seen enough of the tepid pace at that point, moving Kan Wire to the outside where he easily grabbed command as the field headed down the backstretch. That lead was short lived however as Earlivic (Homer Hochstetler) was in high gear on the outside and that colt quickly trotted into the lead as the field reached the halfway station in 59.2.

Heading around the final bend Earlivic continued to show the way, but challenges were coming on the outside from a first over AJ’s Send Money (Sam Widger) and a second over Dancing Offtoplay (Andy Miller) as the field reached the three-quarter-mile mark in 1:28.3.

Appearing to be hopelessly locked behind the leader in the stretch Kan Wire was desperately searching for room as the field neared the eighth-pole. As luck would have it the pace setter then made a break giving Kan Wire the room he needed for a clear shot at the wire. With Dancing Offtoplay on the outside and Kan Wire charging through on the inside these two sophomores hooked up in a stirring duel. Still on even terms just yards from the wire, Kan Wire finally managed to poke a head in front in the final stride to pull off the upset. Dancing Offtoplay was a tough luck second while Crown Vic (Dave Magee) overcame a troubled trip to nab the show dough.

Coming up with just his third win in 20 career starts, the $25,000 winner’s share of the purse was easily the biggest payday to date for Kan Wire. Returning mutuels of $32.00, $7.80 & $5.20, Kan Wire helped key a $1,070 trifecta payout on the seventh race.

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