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Anderson, IN – Five horses crossed the wire together in a thrilling finish in the $325,000 Dan Patch Stakes presented by Brittany Farms at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Friday (Aug. 13), but it was Catch The Fire, driven by Scott Zeron, who emerged on top. Stopping the timer in 1:48.1, Catch The Fire was able to split rivals late in the lane to get the win by a neck over Tellmeaboutit and Michael Oosting.

Catch The Fire led the charge of five horses across the wire together in a thrilling finish in the $325,000 Dan Patch Stakes presented by Brittany Farms at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Friday. Dean Gillette Photo.

Less than a length separated the top five finishers. With the victory, Catch The Fire stamped his name in the Hoosier Park record books and became harness racing’s newest millionaire.

In what proved to be an action packed mile from start to finish, Zeron sent Catch The Fire away from the gate firing from post four but a host of others also wanted early position. Workin Ona Mystery and Todd McCarthy were the first to get a call through the opening quarter in a blazing :25.3. David Miller and Cattlewash cleared to the front but quickly yielded the lead to stablemate This Is The Plan and Yannick Gingras who wanted their turn on the front through the half mile time in :54.1.

This Is The Plan was joined on the outside by his other stablemate in the field, Backstreet Shadow and Trace Tetrick, and the Burke duo led the field to the third station in 1:21.2. When the field turned for home, the stage was set for an all-out cavalry charge to the wire.

This Is The Plan dug in gamely down on the inside as Backstreet Shadow continued to press forward. With the top pair battling stride for stride, Zeron found late racing room and Catch The Fire exploded through the gap to get up in the final strides of the mile. After sitting last for much of the mile, Tellmeaboutit utilized an incredible :25.2 closing quarter to get up for second while Backstreet Shadow held on for third. Sent off at odds of 6-5, Catch The Fire returned $4.40 at the betting windows.

“I asked him to leave really hard and we didn’t get to the front so that just shows you how fast everyone was leaving out of there,” Zeron noted of the trip. “He’s an incredibly game horse that loves his job so I wanted to put him in between the horses and he went right through them. He knows his job and loves it.”

Trained by Todd Luther, the 4-year-old son of Captaintreacherous—Dream Outloud scored his third straight victory and seventh win from 10 trips behind the gate this season. Owned by Black Magic Racing LLC and CT Stables LLC, Catch The Fire now has a record of 15-5-9 from 39 starts.

“He loves to race,” trainer Todd Luther noted after the victory. “I think he would race three times a week if we would let him. He’s just an amazing animal.”

The victory was the first Dan Patch Stakes win for trainer Todd Luther and driver Scott Zeron. The race proved to be a very fitting ending to a sensational evening of harness racing in front of an enthusiastic crowd for the 28th edition of Harrah’s Hoosier Park’s premier harness racing event.