Bridge To Jesses and John DeLong made a clean sweep of the fourth round of Indiana Sires Stakes action after they captured the featured event of the evening, the $75,000 Indiana Sires Stakes final for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings, at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Thursday evening.

With a final time of 1:54.1, Bridge To Jesses notched his third consecutive victory at Hoosier Park and equaled his lifetime best.

Leaving from post eight in the field of ten, Bridge To Jesses left aggressively for early position but a host of others also left alertly. Sam Widger and J S Livethedream were the first to get a call through the opening panel in a snappy :26.1 while Fly Jesse Fly and Trace Tetrick grabbed an early pocket seat. DeLong eased Bridge To Jesses back along the rail in third while the rest of the field sorted out early positions. J S Livethedream was able to slow the tempo and dictate middle fractions of :56.1 and 1:25.4 while Topville Avatar and Dale Hiteman were the first to apply pressure, first-over. As the field turned for home, J S Livethedream continued to call the shots but was bracing for the stretch battle that was about to ensue.

Tetrick tipped Fly Jesse Fly to the outside and he made a bid at the leader but it was Bridge To Jesses who utilized the passing lane to get up in the final strides and win by length. Topville Avatar staged a big rally late in the lane to take home second place honours while J S Livethedream held on for third. As the 3-5 post time favourite, Bridge To Jesses returned $3.40 to his backer’s at the betting windows.

“The trip never works out like you think it’s going to,” DeLong noted after the victory. “I didn’t know what Sam (Widger) would do with his horse because I know he likes the front but it ended up working out for us in the end. My horse felt great tonight, he had a lot of trot and was strong at the wire.”

Trained by Roger Welch, the son of Jailhouse Jesse-Bridge To Nowhere has now bankrolled $473,024 for his owners W. DeLong, W. DeLong, R. Welch, and R. DeLong. Bridge To Jesses has now won eight of ten seasonal starts and has only two off the board finishes this season.

Indiana Sires Stakes action continues at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Friday, September 2 with the $75,000 Indiana Sires Stakes final and $25,000 consolation for three-year-old pacing fillies. The evening’s 14-race card also features the return of 2015 Breeders Crown Champion Freaky Feet Pete in the $21,000 Invitational pace slated as race 9 on the program.

(Hoosier Park)