Thirteen Illinois-bred fillies are to go off Saturday in the $100,000-estimated Illinois Breeders Debutante at Hawthorne Race Course.
The test for 2-year-old fillies conceived or foaled in Illinois is a handicapping puzzle. Only three of the entrants have run a two-turn race, and each of them finished off the board.
The morning line tabs trainer Ron Brandenburg’s entry of She’s Fantastic and Unsprung as the lukewarm 7-2 favorite. The former tops the field with three career victories and only one off-the-board finish in eight career starts.
She’s Fantastic comes back in a week after finishing eighth in the $275,000 NTRA Great State Challenge Juvenile Fillies at Sam Houston Race Park. Before that, she won the Showtime Deb via disqualification Nov. 9 at Hawthorne.
Entrymate Unsprung is one of the trio with route experience, a fourth-place finish in an open company Hawthorne allowance Nov. 28.
Two-time winner Cashmere Miss makes her distance debut as the second choice. The Joseph Broussard trainee enters off an Illinois-bred allowance win. Invader, who was disqualified from the Showtime Deb victory, is the 5-1 third choice.
Backstretch banter: Arlington Park communications manager Dave Zenner was elected Midwest vice president of the Turf Publicists of American. . . . Bettors wagered $6,633 on the Pick 4 and $2,392 on the Pick 6 Friday, the first time the wagers were available at Hawthorne since the Illinois Racing Board reauthorized the wagers Monday. The IRB banned the wagers Nov. 9 in response to the Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick 6 scandal.
