Mystical Victress produced a slight upset in the featured $32,000 Invitational Pace for fillies and mares at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Friday, October 11.
Shipping in from Balmoral Park, Mystical Victress, with LeWayne Miller at the lines, used a sharp front-running effort to score her ninth win of the season with a final time of 1:51.4.
As the gate closed, Sam Widger and American Girl made a quick jump on their rivals leaving alertly from post four and grabbed the early lead through the opening quarter in :26.3. Montenegro and Ricky Macomber Jr. found a spot along the rail in second while Mystical Victress was unable to find position along the rail and pressed on for the front. Betterluvnexttime and Tyler Smith were also caught on the outside and pressed on for a better position.
Mystical Victress cleared to the front through the half-mile time in :55.2, but was quickly challenged on the outside by Betterluvnexttime. The top pair continued to battle it out through the three-quarter clocking in 1:23.3 as the rest of the field closed in.
Mystical Victress battled gamely to put away Betterluvnexttime and was able to hold off a late charge from Radar Contact and Dan Shetler late in the lane to score the victory. Radar Contact got up for the second-place finish while Montenegro rounded out the trifecta. Mystical Victress returned $13.20 to her backers at the windows.
Trained by Erv Miller, the six-year-old daughter of Sportsmaster pushed her seasonal bankroll over the $150,000 mark and her lifetime earnings to $818,373 for her connections of Mystical Marker Farms and Peggy Hood.
The victory was part of a four-win night for LeWayne Miller. He teamed up with Erv Miller to find the winner’s circle two other times on the evening and was also victorious with Walter Haynes Jr.'s Im Gracies Wigwam in Indiana Silver Sire Stakes action earlier on the card.
(With files from Hoosier Park)