Scarlet Gal daughters win maiden on same card

CHICAGO - The broodmare Scarlet Gal, standing on some rural patch of ground, could have pumped up her chest with pride. Not one but two of her offspring won races at Hawthorne on Wednesday afternoon.

Scarlet Splash, a 3-year-old daughter of Scarlet Gal, paid $54 after she rallied from ninth to win the third race, a $10,000 maiden-claiming sprint. Less than two hours later, Scarlet Splash's 2-year-old sister, Discreet Gal, led all the way to win her maiden in an Illinois-bred route race.

A brother in the family, Scarlet Lad, won a lower-level claiming race here last week.

Both fillies, by the little-known stallion Big Splash, were bred by the Orion Stable and are trained by Jim McCoy, who partners with family members to form Orion. Scarlet Splash is an Iowa-bred and Discreet Gal is an Illinois-bred, marking Orion's shift in emphasis away from Prairie Meadows and toward Chicago tracks.

McCoy said Scarlet Splash had been compromised by a serious injury at 2, which limited her performance level. Hopes still remain high for Discreet Gal, who did benefit from a speed-favoring racing surface Wednesday.

"I think she's going to be all right," said McCoy, who has moved the bulk of his operation to Oaklawn Park for the rest of the winter.

With McCoy in Arkansas is Magic Doe, an Illinois-bred who turns 10 this weekend. Trained for most of his career by the retired Jim Eckrosh, Magic Doe moved to the McCoy barn earlier this year and was re-made as a route horse. On Nov. 13, he finished second in the $96,000 High Alexander Handicap for Illinois-breds, finishing in front of the solid stakes horse Wiggins.

"We've tried to get him in two or three times, but nothing went for him, so I brought him down to Hot Springs," McCoy said. "He's just training lightly right now. We'll pick out a spot sometime in February."

Humor at Last takes a break

Humor at Last, who suffered his first defeat when he finished a close second in the Dec. 11 Jim Edgar Futurity, is resting at a farm near Aiken, S.C. When Humor at Last returns to serious training, he will head to Fair Grounds to join the string of Tony Mitchell, who is wintering for the first time in New Orleans.

"He'll either go in the Risen Star or a nonwinners-of-two-other-than," Mitchell said. "Either way, I just want to test him against open company."

Humor at Last has so far faced only Illinois-breds, winning a pair of sprints before tiring late in the 1 1/16-mile Edgar Futurity.

Kirby fires six more Saturday

The trainers' race here is Frank Kirby's to win or lose. With three days left in the season, Kirby and Steve Asmussen were tied at 24 wins each, with Tom Tomillo one win behind, Mike Reavis two behind, and Roger Brueggeman four behind. Saturday, Asmussen has only one horse entered, Tomillo two, and Reavis none. Brueggeman has entered horses for four races, but Kirby will take six swings on the 10-race card.

One of the horses he will send is The Last Spy, one of 12 fillies and mares in the seventh race, an entry-level route allowance that serves as the nominal feature.