5-1 upset in series final

Ross Leonard drove Whatafinale to a surprise triumph in the $10,000 Incredible Finale final for state-bred 3-year-old colts and geldings, posting a 1:56 flat clocking in the slop Thursday night at Maywood Park. The overwhelming 3-10 favorite I Believe Its True could no better than hang on for third.

Sent off at 5-1, Whatafinale ($13.40) was hustled out by Leonard from the pole position and ended up with a pocket trip most of the way behind the pacesetting Buster B Skipalong, who took the seven-horse field through first half fractions of :28 flat and :57 flat in the rain with I Believe Its True (Sam Widger) racing first-up.

When I Believe Its True cleared to the front at the 1:26.2 three-quarter marker, most of the heavy favorite supporters were probably calculating their winnings. However, I Believe Its True got leg weary in the last eighth of a mile and was passed by both Whatafinale and runner-up Harmony Oaks John (Brandon Simpson), who was beaten 1 1/4 lengths. It was another half-length back to I Believe Its True, who had won his last two starts by a combined 17 lengths.

“Whatafinale is a Cadillac to drive and you can do whatever you want with him,” said winning driver Ross Leonard. “My horse had just a ton of ‘go’ tonight and at the three-quarters I could see that Sammy (Widger) was really working on his horse (I Believe Its True) and he wasn’t getting much response. I thought then that I could win this. My horse drifted out a little bit in the final turn but then really paced home hard once he came out of it.

I had driven Whatafinale once when he was just a 2 year old and he’s matured a lot since then,” Leonard noted. “Dave (Magee) usually drives him, but Enos (trainer Miller) had told me he’d give me a shot at driving him sometime, and tonight it worked out great. Enos told me to drive the horse anyway I wanted to, and the way I had wanted was to get trip behind the two horse (I Believe Its True). As it turned out, the trip really hurt that horse because he was first up most of the mile. The trip I got is ultimately what won the race for us.”

Owned by Enos Miller and his wife Viola, Whatafinale came into the series final with just one win in 32 career starts. The sophomore colt did have nine seconds and six thirds on the current campaign while racing mostly on mile tracks. Interestingly, Whatafinale is a homebred son of Incredible Finale, the former Illinois bred champion of the mid-1980s and the namesake of the state-bred series.

“Enos has been a friend of my family ever since I can remember,” added Leonard. “He’s a very good horseman and has always given me the opportunity to drive his horses.” (Maywood)

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