Harrah’s Hoosier Park is set to honour two of Indiana’s finest on Saturday, Nov. 22 as millionaire mares Kobes Gigi and M Ms Dream will make their final career starts before beginning their broodmare careers.
Kobes Gigi will be up first as she leaves from post three in the $22,000 USD Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace in the lidlifter. Driver John De Long will be aboard the seven-year-old daughter of Jk Endofanera-Twin Oaks Tess for trainer Ron Burke. Kobes Gigi finished second in the Breeders Crown for the second consecutive year on Oct. 25 and now has total earnings of $1,241,666. An Indiana Sire Stakes champion at age five, Kobes Gigi is a 24-time winner for her career including her signature win on Hambletonian Day in 2023 when she pulled a 51-1 shocker in the $173,000 Lady Liberty over Test Of Faith. Bred by Harvey Fry, Kobes Gigi is owned by Leander Schwartz and Black & White Stable.
M Ms Dream will bring her career to a close in the sixth race with Jordan Ross slated to the drive as she returns to the barn of trainer Henry Graber Jr. The double-millionaire comes home to Indiana after a front-end victory in the $246,479 FanDuel Championship at The Meadowlands on Oct. 25. The daughter of Swan For All-Trading Places was an Indiana Sire Stakes (ISS) champion at ages two and three, sweeping all eight legs and the Super Final as a sophomore, and she tacked on one more ISS title at five.
M Ms Dream garnered attention nationally at age four when she out-duelled Jiggy Jog S in the Hambletonian Maturity. She was also undefeated on Hambletonian Day with three straight wins in the Steele Memorial in the last three years. She will have an opportunity to add to her $2.6 million in career earnings in the $22,000 USD Open Handicap Trot on Saturday for owners Hillside Stable and Frank Baldachino. M Ms Dream has been trained the entirety of her career by either Graber or Burke, winning 37 of 69 starts. She will retire as the second-richest Indiana-bred trotter of all-time, behind only Hannelore Hanover.
Both mares will be honoured in the winner’s circle immediately following their respective races. The Saturday program will get underway at 5:30 p.m.
The Friday, Nov. 21 program will feature On To Norway in search of his 22nd consecutive victory in the $49,200 USD Bally’s Randy. On To Norway leaves from post five in the ninth race on the Friday card, which will begin at 5:30 p.m.
(Hoosier Park; photo of Kobes Gigi winning on Oct. 13, 2023)