Flight Elal extended his record to six wins in seven seasonal starts Saturday, July 30 in the first round of Indiana Sires Stakes competition for sophomore pacing colts held at Indiana Downs
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The Panspacificflight homebred, driven by Peter Wrenn, won his $40,000 division in 1:53. Straight Dancer and Demanding Force picked up victories in the other two splits.
Selected as the heavy favourite by bettors, Flight Elal and Wrenn raced fourth through a :27.4 opening quarter before moving to the lead. Once on the front, the Jim Dailey-trained gelding clicked off fractions of :56.4 and 1:25.4 before closing out the mile with a :27.1 last quarter. Well in hand, Flight Elal won by three and one-half lengths with Royal Meeting and No Bu finishing second and third.
Flight Elal was bred and is owned by Pacey Mindlin and Kenneth Cohen. The victory raised the gelding’s seasonal earnings to $196,400. The sophomore has amassed career earnings of $432,275.
Straight Dancer and driver Sam Widger captured the first $40,000 division on the program with a 1:53.2 effort. Trained by Steve Carter, the son of Third Straight used cover and a :27.4 final panel to win by nearly three lengths. Georges Ztam finished second, with favourite Times Are Tight completing the trifecta.
The win was the fourth in 13 starts this season for Straight Dancer. The gelding, bred by Jeff and Felicia Frazier, is owned by Carter and his wife, Tammy. The winning time established a new lifetime mark for Straight Dancer.
Demanding Force, sent off at 10-1 odds, won the last of the three divisions Saturday with a 1:53.3 performance. Steered by Trace Tetrick, the Dontgetinmyway gelding sprinted home in :26.2 to win by a length. Casino Captor followed in second with favourite Lost Jewels racing third.
Trained by Tom Simmons, Demanding Force is owned by Clinard Racing LLC and Benita Simmons. The gelding has won four of seven starts this season for his connections.
Freddyscooter and Tetrick outpaced favourite St Elmo Hero and Wrenn in the lane to win Saturday’s $22,000 Invitational Pace by half a length in 1:51.4. The six-year-old I Scoot Hanover gelding picked up his fifth seasonal victory for trainer Steve Brannan, who bred and co-owns the pacer with Fred Shiery. The gelding has earned $95,200 this season and is closing in on $600,000 for his career.
(Indiana Downs)