Three-year-old pacing colts and fillies brought the preliminary rounds of Indiana Sire Stakes to a close at Harrah's Hoosier Park on Friday, Oct. 2. North America Cup champion Odds On Mr Mamba returned after a month away from the races to headline to two splits for male pacers, while Somemore Blue remained red-hot notching her fourth straight to get top billing of the three filly splits.
In his long-awaited return, Odds On Mr Mamba was back like he never left, showing off his patented speed in the homestretch to take down the $70,000 second split for pacing colts and geldings for Team Wrenn -- driver Peter and trainer Melanie.
Sliding to the rail from post six, favourite Odds On Mr Mamba was conservative out of the gate landing in fifth place, while What Nooo Waaay (John De Long) got the best of Dancingdreamer (Trace Tetrick) to the first quarter in :25.4. Dancingdreamer didn’t stay behind for long, gaining the upper hand to the halfway point in :54.3. Mellow Fellow (Atlee Bender) bounced to the outside from fourth with Odds On Mr Mamba taking the cover to the final turn while Dancingdreamer signalled the start of the stretch reaching three-quarters in 1:23.1. Taking off from the cover, Odds On Mr Mamba used his speed to his advantage and accelerated along the outside passing four horses along the way to hit the wire in 1:50.4 with a :26.2 final frame. Dancingdreamer settled for second a quarter-length back and What Nooo Way wrapped up third.
Odds On Mr Mamba scored his second Indiana Sire Stakes victory and his fifth win of the season in nine races while making his first start since the Max C. Hempt Memorial Pace at Pocono Downs on Aug. 22. The millionaire Odds On Equuleus-Honky Tonk Woman gelding is owned by Odds On Racing of Boca Raton, Florida.
Door Dash served up winning effort in the $69,286 first split just prior, with Marcus Miller driving for trainer Trent Stohler.
Leaving from post four, Door Dash challenged the post time favourite Swiss Lights (Trace Tetrick) from the jump. Setting up shop in front, Swiss Lights fended off the early advancement rounding the first turn in :26.4. Aces And Cinches (Kyle Wilfong) snuck in behind the favourite, while Door Dash settled into third. Swiss Lights showed the field through the half-mile mark in :55.2 and tallied off a three-quarter-mile time of 1:23.2. Hitting the stretch, Door Dash rallied past Aces And Cinches then took aim on the leader, snatching the victory in 1:50.3 by three-quarters of a length. Swiss Lights held for second, while Aces And Cinches hit for the show.
The Rockin Image-Metro Shopping gelding is owned and bred by the Trent Stohler Stable of Markleville, Benjamin Graber of Woodburn and Tim Graber of Syracuse, Indiana. Back in Indiana after competing in the Kentucky Commonwealth Series, Door Dash secured his second Sire Stakes victory and sixth win of the season in 14 starts.
In the Sire Stakes for pacing fillies, Somemore Blue continued her reign of terror as she got the better of Whoomp for a fourth consecutive time to score in her $49,286 division for the team of driver Marcus Miller and trainer Erv Miller.
Leaving from post two, Somemore Blue was intent on grabbing the pocket trip as she forced the hand of Whoomp (John De Long), who left from the outside post eight, to drive on and take charge of the fillies through a :26.4 opening panel. Whoomp remained in control to the half in :56 before pacing to three-quarters in 1:24.3 with Somemore Blue set to launch from second. Somemore Blue tipped to the outside, setting the stage for the familiar battle as she and Whoomp set sail from the chasers. Whoomp battled gamely to the inside before Somemore Blue put her away late with a :26 final quarter to pace clear by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:50.4. JKs Spirit (Jordan Ross) was third, 5-3/4 lengths back of the winner.
Somemore Blue has won eight of her 11 starts this year, including five Sire Stakes, for owners Ken Duffy of Orland Park, Illinois, Lava Java Stable of Louisville, Kentucky, Never 2 Late Stable of Greenlawn, New York and Bryn Campbell of Port Hope, Ont. The daughter of Rockin Image-Misssomebeach Blue went over $800,000 in lifetime earnings.
Trainer Ron Burke swept the two remaining splits for sophomore pacing fillies, the first in upset fashion as Sensational Tell rallied at 15-1 to score with driver Kyle Wilfong.
Leaving from post seven in the field of eight in the first $49,286 division, Sensational Tell took back to the seventh position early while Rockin My Heart (John De Long) was a 20-1 longshot leader at the quarter in :27.1. Ponda Lime (Jordan Ross) brushed to the lead on the backstretch, backing down the tempo despite Ross urging to the half in :56.3. The field began to swarm the lackadaisical leader around the final turn, with In The Passing Ln (Anthony Miller) attacking first-over, and Sensational Tell towed into it from third-over, just four lengths back at three-quarters in 1:26.2.
Sensational Tell towered off cover at the head of the lane, following the move of Green River (Trace Tetrick), who battled to her inside. Those two sprinted on from there, with Pixie Vixen (Marcus Miller) shaking loose late to make it a three-horse race to the wire. On the strength of a :26.2 last quarter, Sensational Tell got to the wire a neck in front of even-money favourite Pixie Vixen, with Green River just a quarter-length back in third in the 1:53.3 mile.
Sensational Tell has won five of her 18 starts in her first racing season. The Tellitlikeitis-Captains Play filly joined the Burke stable in late August and made her Indiana Sire Stakes debut on Friday a winning one for owners FAC Racing of Scarsdale, New York, Joseph Di Scala Jr. of Somers, New York and Michael Dolan of Sarasota, Florida.
The second victory for the Burke Brigade was much more formful as Its My Story held up her end of the bargain as the 1-5 favourite with driver Brandon Bates in the $48,571 third division.
Leaving from post five, Its My Story paced around Treacherous Woman (Kyle Wilfong) to cut the opening quarter in :26.2 before going unchallenged to the halfway point in :56.2. Its My Story gained separation on her rivals entering the final turn, opening up by three lengths en route to three-quarters in 1:24.2. The field began to close in late, with Bates urging Its My Story to the wire while Treacherous Woman began took one final run at the leader. The wire came in time for Its My Story, who was able to fend off Treacherous Woman by three parts of a length in 1:52.3. Tells In The Game (Atlee Bender) rallied for the show spot from the backfield at 30-1.
Its My Story, a daughter of Best In Show and A Loskoz Bluegrass, picked up her first Sire Stakes victory and now has five wins in 18 starts on the year for owners Burke Racing Stable of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, Weaver Bruscemi of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Frank Baldachino of Harvey Cedars, New Jersey and Michael Rosenthal of Las Vegas, Nevada.
The week of racing concludes at Hoosier Park on Saturday, Oct. 3 with a 14-race program set to get underway at 5:30 p.m. Next week marks the start of four-day race weeks at Hoosier for the month of October, dropping Tuesdays and racing on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule for the remainder of the month.
(With files from Hoosier Park; photo of Odds On Mr Mamba winning on Oct. 2)