A barrage of Indiana Sire Stakes headlined the Friday, Aug. 21 card at Harrah's Hoosier Park, with rookie trotting fillies and pacing colts in action, to go along with the three-year-old colt and gelding pacers.

 A few horsemen dominated the proceedings, with the Erv and Alvin Miller barns combining to take half of the 14 races, while driver John De Long tallied five wins on the evening.

Among the two-year-old trotting filly stakes, Redice flexed her muscles as the 1-9 favourite with Atlee Bender aboard for Erv Miller in the $92,361 first split.

Leaving from post six, Redice trotted to top in the first turn, leading the field of eight to the quarter in :28. In The Buff (Kyle Wilfong) moved around her to the point, taking the field to the half in :58 before Redice was back out for more from the pocket at three-quarters in 1:27.3. From there, Redice asserted herself in the lane, sprinting home in :27.2 to win by four lengths in 1:55. In The Buff held sway for second, with Dance Remix (Jordan Ross) up for third.

Now having won three in a row since shipping to Hoosier Park from Oak Grove, Redice has four victories in six starts overall for owners Ervin Miller Stable of Debary, Florida, Anthony Lombardi of Morris, Illinois and Stepbystep Racing of Davenport, Florida. The daughter of Rebuff-Fuzzy Dice has banked $190,145.

Rebuff fillies swept the division's Indiana Sire Stakes, with Fine Wine breaking her maiden in style during the $92,361 second split with trainer Jay Cross in the sulky.

Fine Wine snagged the pocket from post two while Gladden (Trace Tetrick) was put on the engine on the first turn to the quarter in :28.3. Fine Wine brushed to the lead after the quarter, taking command before the half in :59.1 before taking the seven fillies to three-quarters in 1:29.2. Gladden applied pressure in the stretch but could not reach Fine Wine, who crossed the wire a length clear of that foe in 1:56.4. Flirt Dover (Jordan Ross) was third at 17-1 to round out the trifecta.

Indiana's Michael Yoder and Maynard Miller of Shipshewana and Daniel Lehman of Syracuse own the winning daughter out of Miss Fidget who has earned $65,515 in her first five career starts.

The Erv Miller barn also took home the first of two $90,972 splits for rookie pacing colts, this time with Marcus Miller piloting the undefeated Mr Bear, who scored decisively at 1-9.

In his familiar inside post one, Mr Bear eased out of the gate into third under cautious handling having broke stride off the gate in his last start. Allowing the field to settle ahead of him, Gwtrigger (Kyle Wilfong) shot out for the early advantage through the first quarter in :28. Mr Bear seized his opportunity to close out the first half-mile on the lead in :57.1, climbing past Capt Peach (Trace Tetrick) and Gwtrigger. Mr Bear continued to drive home through the three-quarter turn in 1:26.1. Mr Bear did not give a head start to the rest of the field this week, asserting his will on the stretch and smashing the wire in 1:52 by 3-3/4 lengths under wraps with a :25.4 final fraction. Capt Peach got up for second, with Soggy Man (John De Long) third.

Mr Bear is owned by the Ervin Miller Stable, along with D&M Trading Ii of Orland Park, Illinois, Levi Bontrager of Forest, Ohio and Laura Perniciaro of Leslie, Michigan. The grey Rockin Image-Mamas Lil Beach gelding is off to a perfect start in his career with five wins and earnings totalling $155,303.

Tell Me Its You, driven by John De Long for trainer Alvin Miller, made it look easy winning the second half of the Indiana Sire Stakes Two-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Pace, scoring in his second consecutive 1:50 mile.

Tell Me Its You duelled out of the gate early in post two with Another Mile Again (Trace Tetrick) grabbing the early lead at the first turn in :27.1. Tell Me Its You wrapped up his time in second, gliding past the leader to mark the halfway mark in :56.1. He then stretched out the field to the final turn in 1:24.3. Finding another gear on the homestretch, Tell Me Its You accelerated through the wire uncontested in 1:50.3 by 3-1/4 lengths. Another Mile Again held second, while it was 8-1/2 lengths back to Im Toohot For You (Marcus Miller) in third.

The winning Tellitlikeitis-Kitty Hoyne gelding is owned by his trainer along with Twila Harts of Amboy, Indiana and Marvin Schwartz of Peru, Indiana. Tell Me Its You claimed his second win in five starts to go along with $94,916 in career earnings.

In the seventh and penultimate leg of Sire Stakes for the three-year-old colt and gelding pacers, Swiss Lights took his turn back atop the division with Trace Tetrick aboard for trainer/co-owner Jeff Cullipher.

Under Tetrick urging off the wings in the $130,556 event, Swiss Lights secured the pocket trip moving onto the first turn while Dancingdreamer (Atlee Bender) took command through an opening quarter of :26.1. The tempo slowed the the half in :55 before Swiss Lights began to angle on the far turn, applying pressure to Dancingdreamer with Aces And Cinches (Kyle Wilfong) in tow at three-quarters in 1:23.2. In a three-across duel to the line, Swiss Lights sprinted home in :26.1 to fend off Aces And Cinches by a half-length in 1:49.4, while Dancingdreamer was third, just three parts of a length back of the winner.

Swiss Lights has won four of his nine starts this year, banking $281,758 this season for Cullipher and Pollack Racing of Venetia, Pennsylvania. The gelded son of Rockin Image-Shes Lights Out boasts a career bankroll of $435,781.

In addition to the two and three-year-old Indiana stakes, the first leg for aged horses was contested on the Friday night wagering program swept by driver John De Long as part of his five-win night. Kicking off the night, the dominant On To Norway, trained by Ron Burke, fended off a late challenge by Revin For Dallars (Jordan Ross) by a nose to score in 1:51 in the $27,777 split for older trotting males. There was much less suspense in the older mare pacing division, with Canttouchthese wiring the field to win by a length in 1:50 over Lyin Eyes (Joey Putnam) for trainer Roger Welch. De Long closed out the evening with M Ms Bud getting the best of Little Rocket Man (Kyle Wilfong) and Rock Shines Again (Trace Tetrick) in a 1:48.3 career-best mile in the finale for older male pacers for Alvin Miller.

In a non-betting race prior to the Friday night card, Yo Beth D and driver Kyle Wilfong won the match race for older trotting mares in 1:53.4 over ER Kelly (LeWayne Miller) for trainer Ken Rucker.

Erv Miller swept the $22,222 Indiana Sire Stakes Eligible races for two-year-old colt pacers to complete his training grand slam, scoring with Lahaina Memory (Marcus Miller) in 1:52.3 and Tells Chip (Atlee Bender) in 1:52.2.

Alvin Miller's other winner was King Tellit (Marcus Miller), who took a $22,222 Indiana Sire Stakes Eligible race for three-year-old colt pacers in 1:50.3. De Long drove the Kim Roth-trained Cowboy Show in another pace for sophomore colt eligibles in 1:50.

Live harness racing for the week at Hoosier Park concludes on Saturday, Aug. 22 with a 14-race card set to get underway at 5:30 p.m. Two-year-old trotting colts will take their turn in the Indiana Sire Stakes spotlight on Saturday, with a trio of divisions in races four, six and nine. There will be $7,500 guarantees in the Late Pick 4 (races 11-14) and Late High 5 (race 14) offered in partnership with the United States Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering Program. 

(With files from Hoosier Park; photo of Mr Bear winning on Aug. 21)