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VALLEY SPEED MUCH THE BEST IN CARDINAL STAKE FINAL

Valley Speed and driver Brent Holland kept Fox Valley Odyssey at bay to win Tuesday's $56,000 Cardinal Stake for two-year-old trotting colts at Balmoral Park.

Illinois bred trotters stepped into the spotlight on Tuesday night as a field of nine two-year-old trotting colts squared off in the $56,000 Cardinal Stake Final.

Fresh off a dominating 17 ¾ length romp in his elimination last week, Judith Lunsford & Lynne Lindsey’s Valley Speed was equally impressive in the final, making every a call a winning one in a career best of 1:56.3 for driver Brent Holland.

Sent off as the 4-5 favorite after that huge win last week, the Henry Lunsford-trained colt effortlessly trotted through splits of 29.0, 57.1 & 1:27 while keeping his rivals at bay.

Despite having the red-hot Fox Valley Odyssey – who was sporting a four-race winning streak of his own – sitting right on his back for the final 5/8ths of a mile, Valley Speed just stepped right away from his competition in the lane to win by a measured half-length. Lincoln Land Stake winner Fox Valley Odyssey was forced to settle for the runner-up role on this night while Maxter (Dave Magee) was third.

Getting hot at just the right time, Valley Speed now boasts a record of 4-4-0 in 15 starts with earnings of $93,465, and he certainly figures to garner plenty of attention when year end honors are doled out. The odds-on choice in the race returned $3.80, $3.00 & $2.20.

The stakes action continues on Wednesday night at Balmoral with freshman trotting fillies slugging it out in the $52,000 Violet Stake. The $25,000 Guaranteed Bal-Cal Pick 4 is also another highlight of the Wednesday card which gets underway at 7:20 p.m.