Fox Valley Tribal surprised everyone by winning the $300,000 Orange & Blue Colt Final in 1:51.2, a new stakes record, for driver Tim Tetrick. The win gave driver Tetrick his fifth winner of the night and his third Super Night Championship drive.
"I thought this horse was in a good spot and especially if the favorites battled hard early, which is what happened," Tetrick said. "You can study the program eight days in a row and as soon as that gate opens, everything happens. This colt is still pretty green and has been getting stronger and stronger with each start."
Fox Valley Tribal, an altered son of Sportsmaster, pushed his career earnings to $154,540 with the win, his third of his career in only nine starts. The gelding battled with My Boy David (Ron Marsh) who had led throughout the mile and prevailed by half a length at the wire.
Team Hutch rallied late to win the $210,000 Pete Langley Memorial in 1:51.1 for driver Eric Ledford. The sophomore son of Sportsmaster had captured last year's Orange & Blue Final on Super Night. Trained by Homer Hochstetler, Team Hutch is owned by Joy and Bonnie Hutchison of Warrenville, Illinois.
"This colt is a very good individual and he's tops among the Illinois-breds," Eric mused. "We just got a great two-hole trip in here tonight and the draw worked out so that we were able to follow Brent (Holland driving Brian And Kellie) around the track. This horse has never raced poorly for me and always gives 110%."
Team Hutch bested rival Perdition (Tim Tetrick) by two and a half lengths to nail his ninth win of the season and pushed his seasonal earnings to over $300,000 and his career bank account to just over $600,000. The win also gave Eric his second victory in the Pete Langley Championship as he had won last year's edition in 1:51.1 with Fox Valley Gallant. It was his sixth Super Night Championship overall, while it was the 4th Super Night Championship for trainer Homer Hochstetler.
King Johnny surprised everyone by winning the $100,000 Dan Patch Championship in 1:51 with Tim Tetrick at the lines. The seven-year-old Kingston gelding bested such old favorites as Taser Gun, Fox Valley Gallant and Go Warrior Go to win his third race of the year in nine starts for trainer and co-owner Clark Fairley. Marlene Fairley also owns a share of the bay gelding.
