It was a tale of two divisions when it came to the opening leg of Indiana Sire Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies on Wednesday, July 9 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, with debutante Rock The Charm delivering a 12-1 upset in an eventful first split and Somemore Blue cruising as the favourite in the second.
Leaving from post five in the $91,216 first division, driver John De Long settled Rock The Charm in third on the first turn while In The Passing Ln (Atlee Bender) raced around Change Of Order (Kyle Wilfong) through a first quarter of :28 over the sloppy going. In The Passing Ln cleared on the backstretch, tapping the brakes once in charge to the half in :57.1 before taking the field to three-quarters in 1:25.4 while Ponda Lime (Joey Putnam) raced first-up at the leader’s wheel.
Turning for home, In The Passing Ln took a bad step at the top of the stretch, going off stride on the lead and creating interference with the pocket-sitting Change Of Order. Rock The Charm had to evade the commotion up front but once clear faced a 2-1/2-length deficit to Ponda Lime with an eighth of a mile to go. Powering home in :26.4, Rock The Charm tracked down and passed a green Ponda Lime who began to get on a line late, reaching the wire two lengths clear in 1:53.2. Cruisen Halle (Mike Oosting) rallied late to be third, narrowly missing the place spot.
Tabatha De Long trains Rock The Charm, a daughter of Rockin Image-Seventimesacharm. The homebred filly is owned by Jesse De Long and John De Long.
The $91,891 second division proved more formful as Somemore Blue and driver Marcus Miller skimmed the cones late to score as the 9-5 favourite. Leaving from post six, Miller rocketed Somemore Blue to the top early, leading the field of nine to the quarter in :27.3. Somemore Blue slowed things down on the backstretch before Milliondollarimage (Wilfong) brushed alongside from fourth at the half in :58.2. Milliondollarimage cleared entering the turn with momentum carrying her to three-quarters in 1:26.2 with Somemore Blue pinned in the pocket now as Miss Alexis (Bender) raced to her outside.
The field started to close in on Milliondollarimage turning for home with Somemore Blue desperate for racing room before the leader drifted slightly off the cones. Somemore Blue fired through the gap in a :26.4 final quarter, pacing clear by 2-1/4 lengths and stopping the timer in 1:53.3. Milliondollarimage held gamely for second, with Tell It Like This (Trace Tetrick) finishing third.
Erv Miller trains the winning daughter of Rockin Image-Misssomebeach Blue for owners Doug Overhiser, Ken Duffy, Lava Java Stable, and Never 2 Late Stable. Lavon Miller bred Somemore Blue, who is now two-for-two in her young career with earnings of $52,247.
Racing continues at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Thursday, July 10 with a 14-race program set to begin at 6:15 p.m. The Thursday card features four splits of Indiana Sire Stakes for the two-year-old trotting colts and geldings in addition to a $7,500 guaranteed Early Pick 5 (races 1-5), and $10,000 guarantees in the Late Pick 4 (races 11-14) and Late Hoosier High 5 (race 14), with the latter two guarantees done in partnership with the USTA’s Strategic Wagering Program.
(With files from Hoosier Park)