Indiana Sires Stakes action is in full swing at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino as the evening’s 14-race card on Wednesday (Sept. 2) featured two divisions for three-year-old trotting fillies and two divisions for two-year-old trotting colts.
The sophomores squared off in round five of their seven-round series, while it was the fourth of six rounds for the two-year-old competitors.
The divisional heavyweights in the three-year-old trotting filly ranks drew away from each other and were decisive winners in their respective divisions. May Baby and James Yoder looked every bit the part of a 1-9 favourite as they coasted to an open-length victory in the first division. Stopping the timer in 1:53, May Baby moved to the lead just after the half and never looked back — finishing 11 lengths in front of her next closest competitor.
Owned by Cheyenne Yoder and trained by James Yoder, the daughter of Guccio and Free Wheeling improved her lifetime record to 17-9-3-1 while pushing her lifetime bankroll to $307,865.
In the second division, Rock Swan continued her winning ways to score in 1:54.4. Driven by regular pilot Trace Tetrick, Rock Swan made her game-winning move down the backside and held off a late surge from Queen Margherita late in the lane to win by a head and record her fifth consecutive victory.
With the win, the daughter of Swan For All—Jolly Jessica improved her seasonal record to 7-5-2-0. The Erv Miller trainee has never finished worse than second in 18 lifetime starts. Owned in partnership by S&R Racing and Anthony Lombardi, Rock Swan has now earned $487,922 in purses.
In the two-year-old trotting colt ranks, Breckenridge and Dan Shetler also continued their winning ways to capture the first division in 1:56.4. After a busy mile, Breckenridge dug in gamely late in the lane to hold off Brookview Bolt and Sam Widger by a head. The 1:56.4 clocking was a new lifetime best for the freshman colt and his second consecutive stakes victory.
The homebred son of Class Included and Dazzling Miss is owned in partnership by Dan Shetler and Dojea Stables and has now bankrolled $67,132 in career earnings. Breckenridge has now won three of five lifetime starts.
In the final stakes division for the night, King Felix and Doug Rideout turned in a near gate-to-wire effort. Using a :28.1 final quarter, King Felix held off a late surge from Flying Swan and Jay Cross to get the win by nearly two lengths. The 1:58 clocking was a new lifetime best for the freshman colt.
Trained by Doug Rideout, King Felix recorded his fourth win from eight seasonal starts. The son of Pine Credit and Missy Hall is owned by Matthew Miller and has now earned $41,525.
Indiana Sires Stakes action will continue at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Thursday (Sept. 3) with two divisions for two-year-old pacing fillies. The evening’s 14-race card will also feature a $10,000 guaranteed Pick-4 in races three through six and a $10,000 guaranteed Hoosier High-5 pool in the last race of the program.
The 2020 live racing season at Harrah’s Hoosier Park will feature 111 racing programs and follow a Tuesday through Saturday schedule throughout the season. With a daily post time of 6:30 p.m., live racing will be conducted through Nov. 21. For more information on the live racing schedule, please visit www.harrahshoosierpark.com.
(Harrah's Hoosier Park)