White Metro returned to her winning ways as she pulled the slight upset in the featured event, a $21,000 Fillies and Mares Invitational Pace, at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Friday, July 1 at odds of 6-1.

After a third-place finish at this level last week, White Metro and Jason Dillander staged a big rally in the late stages of the mile to stop the timer in 1:51.3, just missing the mare's lifetime mark established earlier this season.

Sparks were flying early as Tyler Smith sent Rock The Look away from the gate firing, but a host of others also left aggressively. Rock The Look got the first call, but her lead would be short-lived as Trace Tetrick had the post time favourite, American Girl, dialed in and aimed to the front.

American Girl grabbed the lead just past the quarter in a brisk :25.4 and would continue to call the shots through middle fractions of :55.2 and 1:24.2 while the field remained in single-file order. Unable to wait any longer, Dillander gave White Metro the green light and she began the long first-over grind with Wild Wanda and Ricky Macomber Jr. in tow.

As the field turned for home, American Girl looked strong on the front, but would have her work cut out for her down the long Hoosier Park stretch with the rest of the field closing in. Just as White Metro reached the leader, Wild Wanda tipped off her back and fanned out across the track. Dillander asked his mount for more and White Metro dug in gamely to wear down American Girl and hold off Wild Wanda to prevail in a tight photo. Despite her best efforts, American Girl was forced to settle for second-place honours while Wild Wanda rounded out the trifecta. White Metro returned $14.80 to her backers at the betting windows.

Trained by Jeff Cullipher, White Metro scored her fifth victory from 12 starts this season while increasing her lifetime bankroll to $208,107. Owned by Thomas Pollack and Jeff Cullipher, the four-year-old daughter of Metropolitan-Bye Bye Peachy Pie notched her 15th career victory from 49 outings.

The evening also featured three divisions of Indiana Sires Stakes eliminations for two and three-year-old pacing fillies on the 14-race card. It was the opening round of stakes action for the two-year-old competitors and second round for the sophomores. Each filly was aiming to earn a spot in the $75,000 Indiana Sires Stakes final for their respective division slated for Friday, July 8 at Hoosier Park.

Cant Touch This and Dan Shetler won the fastest division for the three-year-old pacing fillies as they took their split in 1:51.2. Trained by Roger Welch, Cant Touch This notched her second win of the season from four starts and established a new lifetime mark in the process. The daughter of Rockin Image-Fox Valley Monika has now earned $213,354 lifetime for her owners W.C. DeLong, W.P. DeLong, D.A. Riccolo.

Hah ChaChaCha produced the fastest mile of the three splits of eliminations for two-year-old pacing fillies after using a near gate-to-wire effort to score in 1:55.1. The victory was the second consecutive from two starts for the homebred daughter of Always A Virgin-Miss Atm. Trained by Erv Miller, Hah ChaChaCha has now earned $15,000 lifetime for her connections at Shim Racing LLC. The win was also one of four victories on the evening’s card for driver LeWayne Miller.

Live racing at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino will continue on Saturday, July 2 with a 14-race card that is set to begin at 5:45 p.m. Saturday’s 14-race card will be highlighted by a $21,000 Invitational Pace and three Indiana Sires Stakes eliminations for the sophomore pacing colts.

In conjunction with the live racing action on Saturday, the 2nd annual Hoosierfest Community Carnival returns to Hoosier Park for three fun-filled, action-packed days of rides, games, fair food and amusement. The carnival is located in the South parking lot at Hoosier Park and all ages are welcome. Guests can enjoy full-day, unlimited ride passes for only $25.

(With files from Hoosier Park)