The glamour boys put on a speed show at Harrah’s Hoosier Park in two $68,493 splits of Indiana Sire Stakes to highlight Friday night's 14-race card. During the second of eight rounds of stakes action for the sophomore pacing colts, Tellmeitmatters and Sabonis (pictured above) earned victories in their respective divisions.
Sent off as the 3-5 bettors' choice in the first division, driver John De Long settled Tellmeitmatters into fourth off the wings of the gate while Packedwithluck (Trace Tetrick) sped to the quarter pole in :26.1 on the lead. Tetrick tapped the brakes to the half in :55.1 when De Long had seen enough and angled Tellmeitmatters out from fourth. The pace picked up on the final turn, with Packedwithluck bracing for the challenge at three-quarters in 1:23 while Tellmeitmatters powered to the leader’s wheel first-up.
Turning for home, the gauntlet was thrown down between the leaders as Tellmeitmatters powered alongside Packedwithluck. Thundering home in :25.4, Tellmeitmatters wore down a dead-game Packedwithluck to cross the wire first by a length in a career-best clocking of 1:49. Martz Telly (Marvin Luna) held for the third spot, with Goodness Graycious (Mike Oosting) finishing fourth.
The homebred gelded son of Tellitlikeitis-Art Matters is trained by Roger Welch for owners William C. and William P. De Long. A winner of two of three starts in 2024, Tellmeitmatters has now banked $256,676 lifetime following his sixth career victory in 13 outings.
In the second division, Sabonis looked every bit the part of a 1-9 favourite as he scored from post six. With regular pilot Joey Putnam in the bike, Sabonis landed in the fourth position while So Into You (Atlee Bender) soared to the lead in the first turn to cut the first quarter in :26. Sabonis began his charge to the front on the backstretch, clearing to the lead just beyond the half in a blistering :54. Opening up by two lengths on the final turn, Sabonis steamrolled to the third quarter station in 1:22.
The lead expanded to 4-1/2 lengths for Sabonis at the top of the lane as he looked to give the field the slip in the stretch. Noblesville (John De Long) shook loose and uncorked a late rally up the passing lane in pursuit of Sabonis, but on the strength of a :26.2 final quarter, Sabonis held the challenger at bay in a national season’s record time for three-year-old colt pacers of 1:48.2. Rolling Image (Trace Tetrick) rallied for third and So Into You held for fourth.
Trained by Aaron Stutzman, Sabonis has been a winner in seven of eight starts in 2024. The son of Tellitlikeitis-Gypsy Bellevue was bred by Karl Dean Miller and has banked $137,394 lifetime for owner Pat Miller.
Racing action continues on Saturday, June 15 with a 12-race card set to get underway at 7 p.m. Two divisions of Indiana Sire Stakes for the three-year-old filly pacers will highlight the evening’s festivities.
On Saturday, Breakfast at the Hop will once again return to the Hoosier Park track apron. From 10 a.m. to noon, guests may enjoy complimentary doughnuts and coffee to go along with baby races. U.S. Hall of Fame trainer Ron Burke will join Hoosier Park on-air analysts Emily Gaskin and Jacob Rheinheimer to discuss the qualifying action and answer any fan questions from those present at The Hop. Viewers may also stream the qualifiers live on the Hoosier Park AV YouTube Channel along with the commentary. First post for the Saturday qualifiers is 10 a.m.
(Hoosier Park)