Balmoral Park

Contact: Tom Kelley
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Miller-Trained Duo Will be Tough to Stop in Orange & Blue Stake

Power Of A Moment continued to dominate the two-year-old pacing colt division as he teamed up with Marcus Miller for his eighth win in 11 career starts in the second of three Orange & Blue Stake Eliminations last Saturday night.

The Erv Miller-trained duo of Power Of A Moment and Iam Bonasera figure to be the ones to beat in Saturday's Super Night Finale, the $240,000 Orange & Blue Stake for two-year-old pacing colts.

Power Of A Moment has been accorded the 3-1 favoritism as he looks for his fourth straight ICF "major" championship after capturing the $71,000 Mini Me Stake at Balmoral, the $50,000 State Fair Stake Final in Springfield and the $80,000 Governors Cup Stake at DuQuoin over the past six weeks.

In his Orange & Blue elimination the son of Cole Muffler and Panfastic posted a decisive five-length triumph in 1:52.4 for driver Marcus Miller.

"He's one of the toughest horses I've ever driven," said Miller after the victory. "He just does everything on his own and he loves to win races. I've never really asked him for much. He'll just grind and grind until he gets the job done. He's like an older horse not a two-year-old."

Iam Bonasera is a close second choice at 7-2 after overcoming some traffic problems to win in 1:51.3, which was the fastest of the three elimination battles.

The gelded son of Cole Muffler-Shesoluvabull is now four for seven in his career, including a win in a Governor's Cup elimination in a career best of 1:51.1.

Trainer Paul Stafford sends out the third elimination winner in Fox Valley Escort, who will be trying to give the Engel & Rucker Stables another Super Night title.

The full brother to the great Fox Valley Topaz did not make his debut until August 2, and after a couple of so-so efforts it appears as though he's starting to find his stride at the right time with back-to-back victories coming into this battle.

Although the final time of 1:53.3 was the slowest of the eliminations, this gelding opened some eyes with the way he circled rivals on the far turn for driver Mike Oosting before pulling away from his foes for a 1 ¼ length victory.