Hoosier Park Racing & Casino hosted the first Hoosierdega Nights Saturday, April 24, offering racing fans a different type of horsepower theme for the evening

. Highlighted by a 2010 Dodge Charger car giveaway, the facility was transformed into a total racing experience featuring the Fab Five standardbred drivers along with The Challenger Peter “The Wolf” Wrenn.

The evening began with a 14-race program that offered purse money of nearly $500,000 for a packed house of racing fans. They selected their favourite Fab Five driver with special entry blanks and became eligible for premium prizes. The Fab Five and Wrenn competed against one another in two exhibition races, raising money for their selected charities.

Mike “Mo Pete” Peterson got the nod in a Go-Kart race for his charity, Shriner’s Hospital for Children. Peterson was able to beat the field to the finish line in a 10-lap race at the local Go-Kart track, which was shown on the in-house television monitors.

The Fab Five and Wrenn also lined up behind the Todd Nixon starting gate for a special seven-eighths mile exhibition race. All money raised during the night went to the drivers’ selected charities and the horses used in the race were tagged with NASCAR-themed names to add excitement to the event.

Jason “Bad Boy” Dillander took home the top prize of $1,200 for the American Cancer Society in a gate-to-wire effort with his horse, Pedal To The Metal. He was just a few steps ahead of a fast closing Trace Tetrick and Look Out Digger, who finished second for DARE. Ricky Macomber Jr. finished third with Boogity Boogity Boogity to bring home a piece of the $5,000 purse money for the Indiana School for the Deaf. Wrenn collected a portion of the purse for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital while Joe Putnam brought in money for Outfitters, Inc., a local organization that assists underprivileged children with clothing and school supplies.

The Fab Five and Wrenn will continue their efforts to raise money for their selected charities through various promotions during the 2010 racing season that runs through Sunday, July 11. One event which will be held in June is Charity Chariots, giving racing fans the opportunity to sit behind a racehorse with one of the drivers in a double seated jog cart. More than $1,800 was raised in the promotion for the charities in 2009.

Following the Hoosierdega racing program, the Fab Five drivers delivered the 2010 Dodge Charger to the casino floor for the car giveaway. In the announcement area packed with people waiting to hear the outcome of the drawing, Suzy Mansfield of Muncie, Indiana was announced as the winner of the car. She also received $2,500 in cash to assist with the car’s license, tax, and fees. Mansfield was present for the announcement with her husband, Jim.

“This is a thrill, and I’m just numb right now,” said Mansfield. “And, I got to meet the Fab Five. Ricky Macomber gave me a rose the other night at the concert.”

The Fab Five and Wrenn were featured prior to the John Michael Montgomery concert held Saturday, April 17. The drivers handed out roses to the ladies in the crowd as they made their way to the stage to throw out t-shirts prior to both concerts.

Miss Bogy Overcomes Misstep

Miss Bogy proved just how tough she could be despite adversity, winning the first leg of the $40,000 Indiana Sires Stakes Saturday, April 24 at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. The three-year-old pacing filly made a mistake at the start that cost her some ground, but not the win during a special NASCAR-themed evening tagged as Hoosierdega Nights, which offered purses of nearly $500,000 over the 14-race card.

Tagged as The Edwards Pace, Miss Bogy, driven by Peter Wrenn, made a break right at the start and spotted the field by more than 10 lengths before getting back on stride and rejoining the race. The break by heavily-favoured Miss Bogy from the inside post changed the whole scene of the race. Min Flicka and Don Eash grabbed the early advantage and led the way to the quarter-mile marker in :28.3. At that point, Eash kept on going, posting the next two markers in :57.2 and 1:26.1.

Wrenn had Miss Bogy advancing on the outside behind other horses at the half. However, their advancement was not sudden as the duo grinded their way to the stretch behind Dark Alley Sally and Steve Carter for the final quarter of the race. In the stretch, Miss Bogy dug in hard and found the determination to overtake Dark Alley Sally late in the race, winning by the margin of two and one-half lengths in 1:56.1. GD Lana and Mark Graber trudged over the rain-soaked track for third.

Owned by Mike Wamsley, Jamie Hartley, and Paula Walls, Miss Bogy now has more than $36,000 in five starts this year. The daughter of His Mattjesty earned her third win and fifth overall in her first Indiana Sires Stakes showing for trainer Bruce Walls.

“Bruce [Walls] has done a real good job with her,” said Wamsley, who resides in Centerville, Indiana. “She has a lot of desire. We got her last year at Prairie Meadows out of a $2,500 claimer. She caught my eye after she won her first pari-mutuel start out there by 18 lengths.”

In the other two divisions of the Indiana Sires Stakes for three-year-old filly pacers, Electric Sparkle kept up her winning ways for driver Lemoyne Svendsen. She earned her third win in five starts this year in a time of 1:56.3. Bluebird Regal was a winner in the final division of the night, posting her mile in a time of 1:55.4 for driver Dan Shetler. The victory was recorded in her first start of 2010, adding another win to her already impressive record of five for seven as a two-year-old.

Miss Bogy, Electric Sparkle, and Bluebird Regal will look toward the second round of the Indiana Sires Stakes set for Hoosier Cup Night Saturday, May 29. The top 10 fillies by money-earnings will vie for the $200,000 final on Hoosier Champions Night Saturday, July 10.

Go Lakers Wins Indiana Sires Stakes

Go Lakers and Dan Shetler reached the winner’s circle in a division of the $40,000 Indiana Sires Stakes for three-year-old pacing colts Saturday, April 24. The event was part of a 14-race card featuring purses of nearly $500,000 during the Hoosierdega Nights promotion.

Starting from Post 2, Go Lakers settled in nicely in third early as Park Me First and Hoosier Park’s leading driver Peter Wrenn went straight to the lead. Blue Creek Abner and Josh Sutton grabbed the second spot and the race stayed in formation throughout the entire race, reaching fractional times of :27.3, :57, and 1:26.1.

In the stretch, the race was on. Shetler tipped Go Lakers to the outside and began to close in on the leaders, reaching the finish line one-length ahead of Electric Oui and Ricky Macomber Jr., who closed well for second. Blue Creek Abner held on nicely for third.

Go Lakers secured the win in a time of 1:54.4, dropping his previous career best time by nearly five seconds. The three-year-old Electric Yankee colt is owned by Jim Taylor of Dayton, Ohio and trained by Ryan Bellamy.

“I have to thank Ernie Gaskin for picking this horse out for me at the Indiana Select Yearling Sale,” said Taylor. “Then, I have to thank trainer Mike Weller for getting him ready at Hawkinsville, Georgia this winter. And of course, I have to thank Ryan Bellamy. Those three guys made this horse, and I’m very lucky.”

With more than $31,000 on his card, Go Lakers did not race as a two-year-old. An injury was detected early that placed him on the sidelines for the entire season.

“We discovered two chips in his left knee,” said Taylor, a longtime horse owner. “So, we did microscopic surgery in July and turned him out at my farm until November. That’s when we sent him to Weller down in Georgia.”

As the heavy favourite, Go Lakers paid $3.20, $2.20, and $2.10 across the board. Both of his career wins this season have been recorded over sloppy track surfaces. Go Lakers is now two-for-five with no starts worse than second.

In other Indiana Sires Stakes action for sophomore pacing colts and geldings, Gusto Gus was a winner for Mark O’Mara in a time of 1:57.3. Trained by Doug Hinklin, Gusto Gus now has two wins in three starts for 2010.

Iron Claw, 2009 Indiana Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year, also prevailed in his division, fending off Marky Mike and Wrenn by a neck in a time of 1:54.4. Iron Claw, trained and driven by Charlie Conrad, increased his career earnings to more than $221,000. The son of Speak, also a standout racehorse for Conrad, won 12 of 17 starts last year at two. He is owned by Conrad’s parents, Don and Roselea, and his wife, Sarah.

All three pacing colts will head to the next preliminary round of the Indiana Sires Stakes series Saturday, May 29 during Hoosier Cup Night. A total of four preliminary rounds will set up the $200,000 finals slated for Hoosier Champions Night Saturday, July 10 where purses will eclipse the $1 million mark.

(Hoosier Park)