Freaky Feet Pete continued his divisional dominance Thursday at Hoosier Park as he cruised to his ninth straight victory in the featured event of the evening, the $75,000 Indiana Sires Stakes final for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings.
Guided by regular driver Trace Tetrick, Freaky Feet Pete coasted to the wire under a hand drive to finish six lengths in front of his closest competitor and stop the timer in 1:49.4.
Leaving from post seven in the field of ten, Freaky Feet Pete was unhurried from the gate and settled along the rail in sixth. John DeLong had Swing City on a mission to the front and the Erv Miller trainee dictated first half fractions of :26.2 and :54.1 before ever feeling a threat from the rest of the field. Tetrick gave Freaky Feet Pete the green light just past the half and the sophomore colt appeared to do the rest on autopilot. Ima Full Time Job and Jason Dillander were first to commit to the outer flow but were unable to gain on the leader. Freaky Feet Pete reached the leader’s wheel at the third station in 1:22.2 and by the time the field turned for home his lead was ever-increasing.
While the rest of the field struggled to stay within striking distance, Freaky Feet Pete found another gear and used a :26.2 final quarter to find the wire first. American Virgin and Ricky Macomber, Jr. rallied for second while Kelly D and Dale Hiteman rounded out the trifecta. As the overwhelming favourite, Freaky Feet Pete returned $2.10 to win.
“I knew there would be a lot of early speed in the race,” Tetrick said after the victory. “I didn’t want to get tangled up with anyone early so I just wanted to float out of there and catch cover. I asked him a little around the last turn and that’s really all I had to do. He did the rest. He’s a great horse and loves what he’s doing out there.”
Trained by Larry Rheinheimer, Freaky Feet Pete scored his 18th career victory from 20 lifetime outings. The son of Rockin Image-Skyway Lori has now earned $482,100 lifetime for his owners Mary Jo Rheinheimer and Marty Rheinheimer, who incidentally celebrated a birthday today with the win. Rheinheimer’s star pupil will now be aimed for the $100,000 Jennas Beach Boy Invitational Pace at Hoosier Park on Saturday, September 26 for his next engagement.
“I paid the supplement so we will go to the Jennas Beach Boy next week,” Larry Rheinheimer said after the win. “As for the rest of the season, we will take it one start at a time. We’ll get through these next couple of starts here and go from there but we’ll do whatever is best for the horse. He will tell us what he wants to do. We haven’t changed anything so far and it seems to be working.”
The $100,000 Jennas Beach Boy Invitational Pace will be part of a star-studded card slated for Saturday, September 26 at Hoosier Park. The evening’s 14-race card will also include the $275,000 Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stakes trot and pace and the $225,000 Centaur Trotting Classic.
(Hoosier Park)