Closers should excel in four Illinois-bred stakes

STICKNEY, Ill. – Unless the main track carries speed, and barring unforeseen changes in tactics or key scratches, closers could have the best of things in four $100,000 Illinois-bred stakes Saturday at Hawthorne.

On paper, the races are top-heavy with front-runners, and that includes the Milwaukee Avenue Handicap for older horses going 1 1/16 miles on dirt. Big Looie, Flathead River, and Hope for All show their best form on the lead, and Lassell and Reigning Catfish also want to stay close. That quintet should ensure a lively early and middle tempo and set up the Milwaukee Avenue for one of several capable late runners, a group that includes the race’s 2013 winner, Luv Bandit.

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Luv Bandit struck at odds of 10-1 in last year’s Milwaukee Avenue, where he managed to work out a decent stalking trip despite breaking from post 10. Luv Bandit’s last three starts came against open company, he was a solid second April 9 in his 2014 debut, and his odds will not approach double digits this time. Still, his price should be fair, and Luv Bandit should get first run on deeper closers.

Dad Are We Here will offer higher odds than Luv Bandit but might have an equal win chance, and the 6-year-old gelding excels during springtime: He peaked this time last year, finishing third with compromising trouble at the start of the Milwaukee Avenue, and enters Saturday’s race after consecutive victories over open allowance foes at Fair Grounds.

No Apologizes, a four-time Hawthorne dirt winner, makes the third start of his form cycle and stands a decent chance of closing the gap on Luv Bandit, who finished 2 1/4 lengths in front of him April 9.

◗ The Peach of It, the female-restricted companion race to the Milwaukee Avenue, drew just six entrants, but three of them – Goldway, Our Domain, and Alette – prefer forward placements in two-turn races. Goldway is better on turf and synthetic than dirt, while Our Domain is suspect at this distance with front-end pressure, but Alette intrigues. The 4-year-old Alette drew outside the other pace, had a useful turf prep March 22 at Gulfstream, and is 3 for 3 racing over Hawthorne’s main track.

Diva’s Diamond would be the prime beneficiary of a pace battle – and can win without one. She herself alternated for the lead in winning the 2013 Peach of It but since has developed a more effective stalking style and is well drawn to use it Saturday in post 1.

◗ None of Saturday’s stakes has more speed than the Land of Lincoln, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds in which five of the six entrants have run their best races setting the pace. That group includes Ramblin Richie, who won the Sun Power at six furlongs and the Jim Edgar Futurity at 1 1/16 miles here last fall and whose 4-year-old debut Saturday marks his first start since being privately purchased and turned over to trainer Pat Byrne.

Solar Flair might not be the most talented horse in the Land of Lincoln, but he’s in decent form and is worth a play as the only proven closer.

◗ Richies Sweetheart is the likely favorite in the six-furlong Pretty Jenny for 3-year-old fillies, and this speed type has a smoother path to victory, drawn outside of the only other serious pace player, Miracleinourmidst. But watch out for the maiden Divided Humor, who didn’t have much of a trip in either of her open-company starts at Fair Grounds.