Harrah’s Hoosier Park is poised to kick off round one of eight of Indiana Sire Stakes for all four sophomore divisions on a special Memorial Day card on Monday, May 26.
The 14-race card will begin with a first post of 6:15 p.m., featuring two divisions each of Indiana Sire Stakes for all four three-year-old divisions, in addition to six $16,000 USD Indiana Sire Stakes eligible races to be contested on the evening. The Memorial Day card also includes a trio of $10,000 guaranteed pools, with guarantees in the Early Pick 5 (Races 1-5), Late Pick 4 (Races 11-14) and Late Hoosier High 5 (Race 14).
The $49,000 USD first split for three-year-old trotting fillies will get the Monday card going, with Martz Seven starting from the rail in her first start since her 33-1 upset in the Super Final last fall with Mike Peterson driving for Walter Haynes Jr. She’ll be joined by Miracle Maven (John De Long), who has been tabbed as the even-money favourite on the morning line, having only missed the board once in 10 career outings for trainer Henry Graber Jr.
Two more Graber trainees highlight the $49,500 USD second division for trotting fillies in race nine, with Classical Jane (Trace Tetrick) installed as the morning line favourite from the rail following her 1:54.3 romp in the Msnaughtybynature final, while her stablemate Better Takem (Jordan Ross) will make her sophomore debut after winning half of her eight starts at two.
The first of two $49,500 USD divisions for trotting colts will go in race five, with the Ron Burke-trained On To Norway (John De Long) tabbed as the 4-5 morning line favourite from post six, riding a five-race win streak which includes victories in the Chad E. Carlton Trotting Series final and Expresson final.
On To Norway’s stablemate, Starlitfranknstein, headlines the second division in race eight as the 3-5 morning line favourite from post four. Trace Tetrick gets the call to drive the son of Swan For All that has won two of three starts on the season after finishing second in the Super Final last year behind Eugene The Genius.
The first of two $49,500 USD divisions for sophomore pacing fillies will include Tarshish (Marvin Luna), who is looking to remain unbeaten on the year as the 8-5 morning line choice from the rail for trainer Walter Haynes Jr. After finishing second in last year’s Super Final, Tarshish has begun her three-year-old campaign with three straight scores, including wins in the first two legs of The Go On BB Series before being scratched sick from the final on May 17.
The second division in the 13th race of the evening will mark the return of the 2024 divisional champion in the Hoosier state, as Canttouchthese (John De Long) returns at age three from the rail for trainer Roger Welch. A winner in six of eight starts at two, the daughter of JK Endofanera enters her first pari-mutuel start of the season off two winning qualifier efforts.
The first of two $49,000 USD divisions for sophomore pacing colts has a red-hot Rawtn Tale (Mike Oosting) entering at 6-1 on the morning line following victories in both the Jerry Landess and Hal Dale finals this spring for trainer Michael Johnson and has yet to miss the board through six starts in 2025. Deal The Odds (Joey Putnam) is tabbed as the 5-2 morning line favourite following a runner-up effort in his three-year-old debut against Indiana Sire Stakes eligible company.
Last year’s Super Final champion, Chandler Bing, will look for his first score at age three in the second division in race 12 as the 5-2 early favourite. Regular reinsman Jay Cross gets the call on the Alvin Miller-trained son of Tellitlikeitis who reeled off five straight wins to end his rookie campaign last year.
Free online programs are made available nightly on the Hoosier Park website by clicking on the "Racing" tab. The Hoosier Park website additionally offers free access to race replays, while qualifier replays are made available on the Hoosier Park AV YouTube channel.
(With files from Hoosier Park; photo of Chandler Bing from a previous win)