An ISOBA win with finesse

Proving once again that she is the "Queen" of the Illinois conceived-and-foaled set, Vandalay Racing's Victor's Finesse cruised to a deceptively easy 2 1/4-length triumph in 1:57 in Wednesday night's $16,000 ISOBA event for sophomore trotting fillies.

Back on the local scene after a pair of strong efforts against open company in Lexington, the Erv Miller trainee was fit and fresh for this affair. Despite being saddled with post position eight driver Brent Holland whisked the daughter of Valley Victor away from the gate, neatly tucking in third as Brookview Clever (Jason Dillander) led the field through an opening quarter in 29.

Heading down the backside Fox Valley Shimmy (Dale Hiteman) pulled from the pocket and quickly took command of the affair. Brookview Clever was back to second while Holland was still biding his time in third with the 4-5 favorite. The half mile was timed in :58.3.

Trotting around the final bend Fox Valley Shimmy continued to show the way but her advantage was shrinking quickly. A hard-charging first-over Victor’s Finesse had the leader squarely in her sights and was just a head back as these two fillies rolled by the three-quarter-mile station in 1:28.

Blowing by the pacesetter like she was tied to a post Victor’s Finesse quickly opened up a three-length advantage in less than an eighth of a mile. On cruise control the rest of the way Victor’s Finesse strolled under the wire with her sixth win in 14 starts this season. Tomato (Dave Magee) rallied from seventh at the top of the stretch to be the bridesmaid while Racy Remarque (Sam Widger) carted off the show dough.

Last year’s divisional champ has been on a limited schedule this season but she has still racked up $90,240 in earnings on the strength of a 6-4-2 record. The victory also helped push the Erv Miller trainee’s lifetime earnings up to $329,000. The heavy favorite returned just $3.60 to her many backers. (Balmoral Park)

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