Beulah Park: Hamm duo heads Royal North cast

The year's first stakes event in Ohio takes place Saturday at Beulah Park, and as is often the case, trainer Tim Hamm looks to be holding a pair of aces.

Hamm sends out the entry of Significant Bling and Blazing Bling in the $50,000 Royal North for 3-year-old Ohio-bred fillies. The Hamm entry is 2-5 on the morning line, and the odds of one of the fillies being selected Ohio's 2-year-old filly of the year for 2012 are about the same. That honor will be announced Friday, April 12, at the annual awards dinner of the Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners.

Significant Bling was disqualified from her maiden win May 26 at Thistledown, but then went on to win three straight stakes. On July 7, Significant Bling won the Cleveland Kindergarten by 3 1/4 lengths against statebred males, again at Thistledown. Hamm then shipped the Too Much Bling filly to River Downs, where she took the Tah Dah by 13 1/2 lengths July 21. In her final race of the year, she won the $100,000 Mountaineer Juvenile on Aug. 4. Deshawn Parker, aboard for all three stakes victories, will ship in to ride.

Blazing Bling is the other half of the Hamm entry and is just as formidable as her talented stablemate. After finishing second to Significant Bling in the Cleveland Kindergarten and Tah Dah, Blazing Bling won her maiden July 30 at Thistledown by nearly 15 lengths. In her next out, on Aug. 11 at River Downs, she won the Hoover against statebred males by two lengths. On Aug. 31 at Thistledown, Blazing Bling won the Miss Ohio by nearly 10 lengths. Both of those stakes were at six furlongs, the same distance as the Royal North. Blazing Bling closed her 2012 campaign with a win in the $75,000 Best of Ohio J.W. Galbreath at Thistledown Oct. 12, a 1 1/16-mile event.

Others in the 10-horse field include She's the Prize, Deniro's Saint, Small Town Flirt, Lady of Rain, Uptown Girl, Barnsvlle Shamrock, Midnight Jewels, and Rebecca's Raven.