PACING MARES LOOK TO SETTLE DIVISIONAL HONORS IN MILTON FINAL

Nearly all of this season's major players in the pacing mare division will be present Saturday night for the $372,250 Milton Stakes final, meaning the race might go a long way toward determining year-end honors. The top six money-winning pacing mares, led by Bunny Lake, will be among the 10 starters in the event, which will be contested at Mohawk Racetrack in Ontario.

Bunny Lake, the 2001 Horse of the Year, won the first leg of the Classic Distaff series in April and the Roses Are Red on September 4 en route to earnings of $462,116 this season. In addition, she was second in the Classic Distaff final, Breeders Crown and Golden Girls. She finished second to Always Cam in her Milton elimination race.

"She's been good," trainer John Stark Jr. said. "We knew she wouldn't be that sharp off a three-week layoff, but we kind of planned it that way. We've kind of limited her starts this year so she could stay sharp through the year. Last year she wasn't as sharp by the end of the year as she was in the middle."

Bunny Lake, who has made $2.8 million lifetime, started 24 races last year -- the most of any season in her career. Her previous high was 21 during her three-year-old campaign in 2001, when she won 19 times and earned $1.1 million.

Among the mares also advancing to the Milton final were Breeders Crown winner Always Cam, Overbid winner Carolina Sunshine, Classic Distaff winner Eternal Camnation, Lady Liberty winner Loyal Opposition, and Burning Point, who was runner-up in both the Overbid and Lady Liberty. Loyal Opposition joined Always Cam as an elimination winner last Saturday. Eternal Camnation has won the last three editions of the Milton Stakes.

"It looks to me that anybody could step up," Stark said. "I think whoever doesn't get used the hardest and gets the best trip will end up winning it."