Hawthorne Racecourse (12/8/12)
Contact: Ron Uchman
(708) 780-3700
CHATFIELD ROAD EDGES LASSELL IN JIM EDGAR ILLINOIS FUTURITY
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| Chatfield Road holds off Lassell to win the Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity - Photo courtesy Four Footed Fotos |
There were a number of runners that seemed capable of leading Saturday’s Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity gate to wire and one did essentially that, though not one of those that was on most people’s radar. John Carver’s Chatfield Road, whose lone prior victory came in an Illinois-bred maiden claimer last month, took the lead before they raced a quarter and withstood repeated challenges from a number of runners to post a head victory.
The Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity carried an estimated purse of $125,000 and was contested at a mile and a sixteenth on the dirt track. For many in the race, including the winner, it was their first trip around two turns.
Chatfield Road’s lone victory leading up to the race was impressive, he won by 14 lengths ridden out, but $15,000 state-bred maiden claimers don’t often jump up to win $100k plus stakes races in their next starts but trainer Tom Swearingen had him set up perfectly for this race.
“Tom gave him a couple of long works between that race and this one,” said rider Seth Martinez. “The colt seemed to do great. He handled the two turns just fine. Tom told me to leave the gate on him and if he wanted to be up there, let him be up there.
“He was kind of playing around late, looking at the tracks. I spurted away from that horse (Lassell) pretty handily and he got to wait on him a little bit. But the colt ran a great race.
Asiel Stable’s Lassell, hero of the Sun Power last month, got up for second while Virginia H. Tarra Trust’s Tall Grass Cat closed late to finish third.
Chatfield Road returned $25.60, $11.00 and $6.80. Lassell paid $9.80 and $5.60 while Tall Grass Cat paid $3.00.
They ran the mile and a sixteenth on a track listed as “fast” in 1:49.45 after fractions of :24.28, :49.32, 1:15.43 and 1:42.25.
Chatfield Road earned $71,775 to boost his career earnings to $80,475.
Live racing at Hawthorne takes place four days a week and concludes Sunday, December 30. Live racing will be conducted every Thursday-Sunday. First post daily is 2:10 pm. Hawthorne Race Course is located in Stickney IL at 3501 S. Laramie Ave. For information on live racing or groups at Hawthorne Race Course, contact Hawthorne at 708-780-3700 or visit Hawthorne online at www.Hawthorneracecourse.com.
