Freaky Feet Pete, the winner of the 2015 Breeders Crown for three-year-old pacing colts, will make his much anticipated seasonal debut at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Saturday, April 23.
The four-year-old son of Rockin Image-Skyway Lori will look to tackle five other rivals in the featured event of the evening, a $21,000 Invitational Pace, and has been installed as the 2-5 morning line favourite in the evening’s 11th race. Trained by Larry Rheinheimer, Freaky Feet Pete will be driven by his regular pilot, Trace Tetrick.
A winner of almost $1.2 million in lifetime earnings following a story book three-year-old campaign, Freaky Feet Pete has had two qualifying outings at Hoosier Park in 2016. In his first qualifier, Freaky Feet Pete cruised through fractions of :27.2, :56.1 and 1:24.3 before kicking home in :27.4 to win by nine and a quarter lengths in 1:52.2 in less than favourable weather conditions. His second qualifier came last weekend at Hoosier Park, where he finished 13 lengths in front of his next closest competitor and stopped the timer in 1:51.4.
“He was very strong,” Tetrick noted after his qualifier. “I think he’s grown up some, he is definitely ready to get back to work; he loves his job and seems as strong as ever.”
On Saturday, Freaky Feet Pete will start from post six and look to put an end to the two-race win streak put together by the Dylan Davis trainee Fearless Diablo. Fearless Diablo has earned back-to-back wins in Hoosier Park’s featured pace, most recently scoring in 1:51.3.
Freaky Feet Pete has amassed $1,198,453 from 24 wins and two seconds in 27 trips lifetime. In fact, he’s only finished off the board once in his career and that was in his third career start as a freshman, when he finished fourth. Indiana’s Three-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year will likely make another start at his home track before shipping to Northfield Park for his first major stakes race of the year, the $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie on May 21.
Saturday’s 14-race card at Hoosier Park is set to get underway at 5:45 p.m. Hoosier Park’s ‘Family Fun Days’ return this Saturday and will continue each weekend throughout the entirety of the harness racing season. Activities will include face painting, live entertainment, games and winner’s circle giveaways. Saturday’s live racing card will be followed by a free performance by Ripple Effect in Hoosier Park’s Terrace Showroom.
(With files from Hoosier Park)