Hoosier Park Racing & Casino has a new ruler among the trotting ranks. Claudius Augustus and Lemoyne “Mooney” Svendsen proved supreme again
with their second straight win in the co-featured $23,000 Invitational Trot.
Starting from post four in the 10-horse lineup, Claudius Augustus left for the top, but was content to let Blowlowsanta go ahead and lead the way through the quarter in :27.3. DC Northern was left on the outside and as soon as he had tucked in behind the leader, Svendsen tipped Claudius Augustus to the outside and powered to the lead at the halfway marker in :57. However, their control of the race was short-lived, allowing Motor Inn to move to the top spot heading in to the turn.
Heading out of the turn, Claudius Augustus was asked for one final move, and that was to head to the finish line. The six-year-old Angus Hall horse hit another top gear and strolled home for the win in a time of 1:56.1, three lengths ahead of Blowlowsanta. NF Soaring finished third.
Out of the great race mare Claudes Last Lady, who won her share of races around Hoosier Park’s oval, Claudius Augustus now has 20 career wins in 39 career starts. Earnings of more than $225,000 have accumulated for owner Debbie Budahn of Rolling Hills Estates, CA. He is part of the strong Bobby Johnson barn, which is stabled at Hoosier Park for the first time in 2010 with 11 horses and more on the way from their headquarters in California.
“Anything I needed to do tonight, I was able to do with this horse,” said Svendsen. “This is a push button horse, and I had to use about four buttons tonight during the race. He made a lot of different moves. He makes me look good.”
Johnson and Svendsen also took top honours in the top pace with Keystone Eli. The seven-year-old son of Shady Character captured the $23,000 Invitational Pace.
Keystone Eli got good positioning early and stayed tucked on the inside through the first three-quarters of the mile. Horses began to bunch up around the turn, and Keystone Eli was trapped along the inside. He was trying on his own to get through to accelerate and even put in a few bad steps in the process. However, Svendsen kept him contained until the proper lane was open.
Halfway through the stretch, the inside was his for the taking, and Keystone Eli began to advance with every stride despite a broken inside head pole. Rocket Fuel had emerged as the new leader in the center of the track and Robin I Scoot had found a lane on the outside and were also advancing past rivals. In the end, Keystone Eli got the last call at the finish line by only one-half length over Robin I Scoot. Rocket Fuel was a bang-up third.
“It wasn’t really a surprise to win with him (Keystone Eli) tonight,” said Svendsen. “He’s an old racehorse that is always there to win. He raced well last week, too. He was first over and still paced home in :27.1. You can’t ask much more than that.”
Owned by Hei Mitchell of Lake View Terrace, CA, Keystone Eli now has four wins in eight starts for 2010. A total of more than $218,000 has been accumulated by the veteran, who scored the win in a time of 1:52.1.
(Hoosier Park)