Rich finals at Hawthorne

He Wants It All and Muscles Marinara are set to defend their respective titles in the $96,000 Robert F. Carey Memorial Pace and the $105,000 Erwin F. Dygert Memorial Trot Saturday night at Hawthorne Racecourse.

Also on the docket is a pair of World Series Grand Circuit events, both for pacing colts and geldings. The 2 year olds take center stage in the evening’s second event, and the sophomore set grabs the attention in race four. In that race, all eyes will be on the Ervin Miller-trained Devilfish, who served notice that he is a colt to keep an eye on in the 3 year old division here on June 7, winning his pari-mutuel debut by nearly eight effortless lengths in an eye popping final time of 1:51.2. The gelded son of Cam’s Card Shark was supplemented to tonight’s $59,500 stake for $5,500. He was a $37,000 yearling purchase by Peninsula Farm.

If that’s not enough, Yukon Cornelius, a three-time winner at this meet, takes on Jimmys Pilot victor Live Out Loud and last week’s scorer Westward Vision in a sensational Free For All and the Finals of the Stickney Pacing Series and Cicero Pacing Series will also be contested.

Defending Carey Champion He Wants It All has yet to taste defeat at Hawthorne from four career starts. The winner of last year’s Carey by a desperate head in 1:50, the 6-year-old Tom Harmer-trained son of The Big Dog also lists a pair of Isle of Capri (Pompano Park) victories as well as sophomore Big M tallies in the Matt’s Scooter and Junior Trendsetter among his accomplishments. In his illustrious career, He Wants It All has earned $711,450.

He Wants It All won the Free For All here on May 27, and followed it up two weeks later with a score in the Carey Preview. With Hall of Famer Dave Magee in tow, he will leave from post position six in the field of seven.

With lots of dough on the line, you can bet that there will be no breathers for He Wants It All on Saturday night. Hawthorne’s track record holder Town Champion, Preview runner-up Cheyenne Hollywood, and hard hitting East Coast invaders Shu Hanover and Rob Roy Mattgregor should all have plenty to say about the result.

In his first try at Hawthorne in 2004, Muscles Marinara raced sixth in the Dygert Eliminations and failed to make the Final. It’s safe to say he’s a different horse now than he was then.

He barely made last year’s big event, crossing the line a fading fifth in his elim, but the light switch turned on the following week, and the son of Muscles Yankee led at every call, posting a 30-1 shocker.

The Paul Stafford trained 6 year old enters tonight’s Dygert on the absolute top of his game. He rolled to an open handicap victory here on May 30, and followed up ten days later with a seemingly effortless score in the Dygert Preview. He rolls to the post with career earnings of $700,965 already in the bank, but in order to make another major deposit, driver Michael Oosting will have to help him overcome the nine post.

If the favorite should falter, the winner could come from a few places. Battle hardened trotters Dink Adoo and Dunkster have earned over $1 million combined. The up and coming Illinois-bred 4-year-old Battleshoe Victor won the Eddie Oakley Stakes on Night of Champions, and 2003 Dygert upsetter Life’s A Holiday could have another trick up his sleeve at the tender age of eight.

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