On a night where upsets were aplenty, Sabonis rewarded the bettors' faith in him and delivered at 1-9 to extend his win streak to nine in the penultimate leg of Indiana Sire Stakes for three-year-old pacing colts on Friday, Aug. 23 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Stat That pulled off a 29-1 shocker in the first division for sophomore pacing colts, while trainer Henry Graber Jr. swept both divisions of Sire Stakes for two-year-old trotting fillies which co-headlined the 13-race card.
Making his first start since his victory in the Milstein Memorial on Aug. 10, Sabonis was sent away from post six in the $68,493 Sire Stakes division with regular pilot Joey Putnam in the bike. Putnam settled Sabonis into fifth off of the gate while Lovers Trouble (Pete Wrenn) rocketed to the front of the field of seven through a wicked first quarter of :25.4.
M Ms Bud (Jay Cross) moved to the lead from second on the backstretch before leading to the halfway point in :54.3 while Sabonis began his first-over charge from fifth. Sabonis wheeled into third on the final turn, 1-1/2 lengths back of M Ms Bud, who led to three-quarters in 1:22.4.
Sabonis surged alongside M Ms Bud at the top of the stretch, grabbing a short lead midway through the lane, but M Ms Bud was not going to go away quietly. Those two slugged it out for the length of the lane before Sabonis edged in front at the edge of the toteboard and won by three-quarters of a length over M Ms Bud in 1:49.4. Midnight Rocker (Trace Tetrick) finished 1-3/4 lengths behind in third.
Trained by Aaron Stutzman, Sabonis has won 12 of 13 starts in his three-year-old campaign during which he has banked the bulk of his $479,646 bankroll. Bred by Karl Miller, the son of Tellitlikeitis-Gypsy Bellvue is owned by Pat Miller and has yet to miss the board in his 15-start career having won 13 of his lifetime outings.
Earlier on the card, Stat That picked a good time to pick up the first win of his three-year-old campaign, pulling a 29-1 shocker in the first $68,493 division for pacing colts.
Driver LeWayne Miller put Stat That in the pocket from post two while Premier Romeo (Kyle Wilfong) grabbed the lead through a first quarter of :26.4. Premier Romeo had things his way to the half in :55.1 before leading to three-quarters in 1:23. Stat That popped the pocket turning for home, rallying with a :27 last quarter to cross the wire first by 1-1/4 lengths over a hard-charging Dale Yeah (Marvin Luna) in a career-best 1:50.1. Premier Romeo finished third.
Trained by Susan Miller for owner Derek Lehman, Stat That earned his first victory through 12 starts on the year and now has two wins lifetime. The son of Check Six-Rockin Songbird has earned $178,619 through 21 starts lifetime.
Two-year-old trotting fillies took to the track in two divisions comprising their fourth leg of the Indiana Sire Stakes with Graber Jr. trainees stealing the show.
Classical Jane teamed up with driver Trace Tetrick to break her maiden in the $91,096 first division, upsetting at 22-1 to upend her heavily favoured stablemate Better Takem (Jordan Ross).
Better Takem took command early through a quarter of :28.1 while Classical Jane grabbed the pocket in the spread-out field of six. Better Takem led alone to the half in :57.1 prior to reaching three-quarters in 1:26.2, 4-1/2 lengths clear of her stablemate. Better Takem began to tire late in the lane, allowing Classical Jane to pick up the pieces late and snag the victory by a quarter-length in 1:55.4. Woodside Izz (Lewayne Miller) was the best of the rest some 15 lengths in arrears.
Owned by Eleven Star Stable, Frank Baldachino, Beasty and Backroad Stable, the daughter of Swan For All-Class Angel has earned $54,747 in six outings.
The $90,411 second division held much more to form with Miracle Maven cruising at 1-9 in front-end fashion with driver John De Long.
De Long protected rail position off of the gate with Miracle Maven, fronting the field of five to the opening quarter in :29.3. The quintet remained in straight alignment to the half in :58.3 before Miracle Maven led to three-quarters unchallenged in 1:28.2. Sprinting home in :27.4, Miracle Maven coasted to a two-length win over Swan Jewel (Trace Tetrick) to stop the clock in 1:56.1. McLady Of Hearts (Ricky Macomber Jr.) rounded out the top three.
The daughter of Dont Let Em-Bad Babysitter has yet to miss the board in six career outings, winning four of them for owners Eleven Star Stables, Frank Baldachino, Beasty and Hillside Stables while banking $137,632.
The win was one of three on the card for driver De Long. His wins included a 1:49.4 victory in rein to Little Rocket Man in the $28,767 Open Pace. Overcoming post nine and a six-week layoff, Little Rocket Man soared up the passing lane in :26.2 from the pocket to score easily by two lengths over Watching Out Coin N (Ricky Macomber Jr.).
Trained by Ken Rucker, Little Rocket Man has won eight of 11 on the year, including the Battle Of Lake Erie in June. The win was the 62nd in the career for the eight-year-old lifetime earner of $1.39 million for owners Russ Beeman and Jack Freeman.
The week of racing concludes on Saturday, Aug. 24 with a 12-race card including a pair of Indiana Sire Stakes divisions for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings. First post on Saturday is 7 p.m.
(With files from Hoosier Park)