Contact: Tom Kelley

LADY LINCOLN LAND ELIMINATIONS IN THE BOOKS

Maplegrove Natalie (#2) fought back gamely to edge out Gloria Wyoming (#8) in Tuesday's first Lady Lincoln Land Stake Elimination.

Trotting fillies took center stage on Tuesday night as a total of 13 Illinois conceived and foaled two-year-olds battled in a pair of $12,500 Lady Lincoln Land Stake Eliminations. The top five finishers in each split will be back next Tuesday to battle for a $120,000 jackpot.

In the first division Thomas & Joseph Mullins Maplegrove Natalie turned in a very gritty performance to win by a hard fought head in 2:00.2.

Placed on the point as soon as the gate sped away by driver Brandon Simpson, this daughter of American Native rolled through splits of 30.0, 1:00.4 & 1:31.0 over a track rated as good. Despite getting collared in mid-stretch by a first over Chugwater Gal (Mike Oosting), Maplegrove Natalie fought back gamely and was able to reclaim her advantage in the final strides. A fast closing Gloria Wyoming (Dave Magee) just missed rallying for it all while Cardinal Speedy (Homer Hochstetler) shook loose late to finish third. Guilty Pleasures (Ryan Anderson) and Chugwater Gal gained spots in the final with fourth and fifth place finishes respectively.

Mis Vapor Trail and driver-trainer Homer Hochstetler rolled to victory in the second Lady Lincoln Land Stake Elimination on Tuesday night.

Chalk players saw their money go up in smoke in the second elimination as Rose Between 2 Thorns' Mis Vapor Trail took advantage of a miscue by the 1-5 favorite, So Sexy, in route to a 1 ¼ length victory in 2:02.1.

Using an inside starting spot to perfection, driver-trainer Homer Hochstetler was able to save ground through the opening 5/8ths of a mile. After pulling from third as the field moved towards the top of the stretch, the daughter of Vaporize gradually wore down the pace setting Marilyns Lil Aggie (Dale Hiteman) to win for the first time in her six-race career. Marilyns Lil Aggie held on for second while a ground saving Fox Valley Tina (Mark Saporito) was third. Battle On (Mike Brink) was 14 lengths back in fourth. So Sexy (Dave Magee) and Purple Luv Bug (Brandon Simpson), both of whom made breaks in the race, waged a spirited battle for the final qualifying spot with So Sexy narrowly gaining the last spot.

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