Mr Bear continued his perfect freshman season in the fourth leg of the Indiana Sire Stakes for two-year-old colt and gelding pacers, with an uncontested victory on Friday, Aug. 28 at Hoosier Park.
Campaigned by the father and son, training and driving team of Erv and Marcus Miller, Mr Bear cruised to his sixth straight victory in the evening's first $88,356 stakes division.
Mr Bear eased out of post three to survey the five-horse field, before firing up to the lead at the first turn to clock the quarter in :27.2. The field followed single file to the halfway mark in :56.1 and remained unchanged in the lead-up to the final turn as Mr Bear set the tone through three-quarters in 1:25. Down the stretch, Mr Bear didn’t offer any reprieve focusing on the wire. Nu Chex To Cash (Anthony Miller) offered a burst of pace from second, forcing Miller to pull out the whip for the first time to guide the post time favourite through the finish line in 1:50.3, winning by 2-1/2 lengths. Nu Chex To Cash glided into second while Another Mile Again (Trace Tetrick) maintained third.
Mr Bear is owned by Ervin Miller Stable of Debary, Florida, D And M Trading Ii of Orland Park, Illinois, Levi Bontrager of Forest, Ohio and Laura Perniciaro of Leslie, Michigan. The grey Rockin Image-Mamas Lil Beach gelding's bank account stands just shy of $200,000 with his perfect six-race record including four Sire Stakes.
Tell Me Its You dominated the other $89,041 division to secure second straight Sire Stakes victory for driver John De Long and trainer Alvin Miller.
Tell Me Its You started strong off the wings of the starting gate from post two to force Capt Peach (Trace Tetrick) to battle along the outside to the lead in a :27.2 opening quarter. Tell Me Its You took control moments later on the right side of Capt Peach and took care of the second fraction for a half-mile time of :56.2. The field followed the leader through the final turn to three-quarters in 1:25 before he took off by more than three lengths to win in 1:51. Capt Peach was second while Im Toohot For You (Marcus Miller) had the edge in a three-way show photo.
Tell Me Its You secured his third win in seven starts with his earnings climbing to nearly $140,000. The Tellitlikeitis-Kitty Hoyne gelding is owned by his trainer in partnership with Twila Harts of Amboy, Indiana and Marvin Schwartz of Peru, Indiana.
Hoosier Park will host the second annual Lowrider 500 for Wiener Dogs on Saturday with heats starting at 6 p.m. The harness card features 11 races with first post set for 5:30 p.m.
(Standardbred Canada with files from Hoosier Park)