Big night for Oosting

Driver Mike Oosting had a banner night, capturing both $5,500 divisions of the Incredible Finale Series for sophomore pacing colts and geldings. Oosting steered the winning Sidecar to a 2:00.1 victory in the first dash and then returned in the second dash to pilot Tommys King to victory in 1:58.3. In addition, Oosting drove four other winners on the evening's card, pushing his total to six.



Sidecar, a son of Sportsmaster, used the rail to his advantage, leaving quickly from the rail and snapping off fractions of :29.4, 1:01 and 1:30.2 before sprinting home in :29.4 under frigid Chicago conditions.



“This horse raced really well tonight and is very handy,� Oosting noted. “I really didn’t think there was any horse that would catch him. He left well and just did everything right. He could have gone a little faster but I didn’t really push him given the weather conditions.�



Sidecare is owned by the Oat Burner Stable and William Seatsema of Illinois and is trained by John Butenshoenâ€"the same connections that own and train the second dash winner Tommys King. The victory, Sidecar’s second of the year in 25 starts, pushed his seasonal earnings to $13,898.



Tommys King used a perfect two-hole journey to nail his third win of the year in 18 tries. The altered son of Kingston sat patiently through fractions of :28.1, :57.4 and 1:28 set by rival Master Of Fools (Brent Holland) before using a :30.1 final brush to nab the victory.



“This colt is pretty similar to his stablemate,� Oosting said. “John (trainer Butenschoen) has both of these colts in great shape. This horse is a little bigger and just a little faster than the other colt (Sidecar) right now. He bolted by the leader on the end of the mile all on his own tonight.�



Tommys King pushed his seasonal earnings to $16,996 with the win. Master Of Fools (Brent Holland) held on for second, while Triggerfish (Shawn Christner) nailed third.

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