Harrah’s Hoosier Park hosted the penultimate leg of Indiana Sire Stakes for freshman trotters on Tuesday, Sept. 13. Three divisions for two-year-old trotting colts and two for trotting fillies highlighted the evening's 14-race card.
The $45,500 first division for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings in the evening’s second race kicked off the stakes action with a bang, as Talent Scout (pictured above) played spoiler to the tune of 19-1.
Leaving from post six, driver John De Long put Talent Scout on the engine early through an opening quarter of :28. Talent Scout remained unchallenged on the lead through a half before Mike Oosting pressured the leader with the heavily favoured Jailhouse Dance through three-quarters in 1:27.
Entering the stretch with his control on the lead still intact, Talent Scout powered away from his rivals to score a 1-1/2-length victory in a lifetime best 1:54.2. Jailhouse Dance held sway for second while Just Show Up and Trace Tetrick rounded out the trifecta.
Talent Scout returned $41.60 to his backers at the betting windows.
The victory was the fifth in 13 career starts for the Doug Rideout trainee, who now boasts a six-figure bankroll of $101,708 for owners Julie Rideout, Alan White and Dave Gamble. Bred by Atlantic Trot Inc. and Steve Stewart, Talent Scout is a gelded son of Swan For All out of the Tom Ridge mare, Prettysydney Ridge.
The $46,000 second division proved to be more formful as John De Long teamed up this time with race favourite Texsong Soprano to score the victory.
Floating away from post three off the wings of the gate, Texsong Soprano got away fourth in the field of eight as Tony Hall guided longshot Ahadi As to the front through an opening quarter of :29.
Peter Wrenn and Ascent took command going to the halfway point in :59.3, leaving Texsong Soprano first-over in second after following that cover to three-quarters in 1:29.2.
Texsong Soprano took control in the stretch following a miscue from Ascent at the top of the lane and refused to look back, using a :28 quarter to hold off a hard-charging Brookview Darius and Atlee Bender by three-quarters of a length in 1:57.3. Ahadi As and Tony Hall held on for the third position.
The victory was the fourth in seven lifetime starts for Missy Essig trainee, who has yet to finish worse than second in his young career. Bred by Abraham Miller, the Text Me colt out of the Muscles Yankee mare Muscling In is a half-brother to the millionaire and O’Brien Award-winning trotting mare Windsong Soprano. Texsong Soprano has now earned $127,222 for owners Joe and Daryl Yoder.
In the third and final $46,000 division for the trotting colts, Full Strength and Ricky Macomber Jr. scored a front-end victory.
Unable to find the rail from post five, Full Strength and Macomber found themselves a parked-out third as Facebook Official and Jared Finn carved out a :28.3 opening panel.
Full Strength and Macomber continued their march to the front, clearing at the half in :57.3 before leading the field to three-quarters in 1:27.4.
With the support of a 28:3 final quarter in the lane, Full Strength proved to be too strong for the field, scoring the victory in 1:56.2. Mohatu As and Tony Hall rallied for second, with Energy King and John De Long finishing third.
The gelded son of Helpisontheway scored a maiden-breaking victory in his fifth career start. Bred by Peninsula Farms Inc of Kentucky, Full Strength has banked $30,900 for trainer Jamie Macomber and owners M&M Racing and Doug Bixler.
Not to be outdone by their male counterparts, freshman filly trotters provided fireworks and frenetic finishes in their two divisions of Sire Stakes action. In the $67,500 first division, Yo Beth D returned to her winning ways for driver Trevor Smith after making an uncharacteristic mistake in her last outing.
Leaving from post one, Smith took full advantage of the inside position, sending Yo Beth D on her way to the tune of a :27 opening quarter.
The duo maintained their advantage over a gapped-out group of fillies with a blistering half of :55:3. The field began to converge on the far turn as Yo Beth D led the field to three-quarters in 1:25.2 with a two-length advantage.
In the stretch, Yo Beth D faced a two-pronged attack from a hard-charging Helpoftheseason and Peter Wrenn as well as a steadily gaining Naturdays on the far outside with Matt Krueger. However, Yo Beth D and Smith held on for the victory by a nose at the wire over Helpoftheseason in 1:55.1. Naturdays finished third, a length behind the top duo, to round out a Helpisontheway sired trifecta.
The Todd Luther-trained filly has been victorious in five of seven starts for owners Black Magic Racing LLC. Bred by John Schmucker, Yo Beth D has raked in $133,250 over the course of her freshman campaign.
Upsets bookended the night in Sire Stakes action as Semi Formal and Jimmy Whittemore scored the 14-1 shocker in the $68,000 second division.
Navigating traffic from the second tier in post 11, Semi Formal and Whittemore landed in seventh in the early going as Ohhelpmebaby and John De Long led through an opening quarter of :28.1.
Ts Pride and Trace Tetrick took their turn at the lead through an opening half of :57.3 before guiding the pack of fillies to three-quarters in 1:26:4.
With nine lengths to make up on the leader at the three-quarter station, Semi Formal and Whittemore launched their move in the stretch with a :28.2 final quarter on the grandstand side to track down Ts Pride and get up by a quarter of a length at the line in a lifetime best 1:57. Hanna Too Hanover and Tony Hall staged a strong late rally to get up for third.
Trained by Jay Hochstetler and owned by Homer and Connie Hochstetler along with South Of The Tracks Racing, Semi Formal picked up her second career victory in seven career starts and has earned $51,150 in 2022. Bred by Belmar Racing & Breeding LLC, Semi Formal is a Swan For All filly out of the Muscle Hill mare Blk Thai Optional, making her a half-sister to the 2022 Hambletonian champion Cool Papa Bell.
Racing continues on Wednesday at Harrah’s Hoosier Park with a 14-race card featuring freshman pacing fillies in Indiana Sire Stakes action. There will also be a $45,000 pool in the Hoosier High Five in the Wednesday night finale featuring $11,547.69 in carryover money.
(With files from Hoosier Park)