Balmoral Park

Contact: Tom Kelley
(708) 672-1414

Fox Valley Topaz Looking to Make History

Fox Valley Topaz winning last year's Grandma Ann Championship.

After winning the Filly Orange & Blue in 2008 and the Grandma Ann Championship in 2009, Engel and Rucker Stables’ Fox Valley Topaz will look to become the first horse in history to win three different Super Night Championships in three consecutive years when she squares off against nine rivals in Saturday's $115,000 Lorna Propes Championship.

Despite a fifth place finish in her elimination effort last week and an 0 for 18 record coming into this final, trainer Paul Stafford is still optimistic that the four-year-old daughter of Sportsmaster will have a chance to put her name in the record books.

"She's spent the majority of the year knocking heads with the best mares in the country on the east coast week after week," explained Stafford. "So even though she's going in 1:50 or 1:51 she's not winning races and that can start to be tough on a horse, especially a mare."

In last year's Grandma Ann, Fox Valley Topaz rallied from mid-pack to win by a length in a career best of 1:51.4 for driver Mike Oosting, who elected to take the morning-line favorite Native Hotspur in tonight's event.

Despite the fact that Balmoral's leading driver opted off Fox Valley Topaz, Stafford remained optimistic about his mare's chances on Saturday night.

"She's made $812,958 and she's only a four-year-old," said Stafford. "That should tell you something about how good she is and the caliber of competition she's taken on throughout her career. It may look like sort of an even effort that she turned in last week but I was very pleased by it and she's always stepped it up on the big stage here on Super Night."

If she can do it again fans will be treated to history!

Saturday’s Super Night card will have a special post time of 7:00 pm. Tickets are available for Illinois’ biggest night of racing by calling (708) 672-1414 or by visiting www.balmoralpark.com.