Anderson, IN – Three divisions of the third leg of Indiana Sire Stakes for 2-year-old pacing colts and geldings were held at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Friday (Aug. 27).  The pacing colts highlighted a 14-race card on a Friday evening that started hot and humid before a thunderstorm would halt the action for nearly an hour and leave a sloppy racetrack for the second half of the evening’s card.

Fulfullnmydestiny and trainer/driver James Yoder established a new track record (1:50) for 2-year-old pacing geldings at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Friday night. Dean Gillette Photo.

Fulfullnmydestiny and James Yoder would take full advantage of the dry conditions on the first half of the night, smashing the track record for 2-year-old pacing geldings in the $47,500 ISS first division in the fifth race of the evening.

Leaving from post two, Fulfullnmydestiny and Yoder would float off the wings of the gate, settling mid-pack in fourth as Odds On Blockchain and Peter Wrenn led the field through a snappy :26:4 opening panel.  As the pace slowed a bit on the backstretch, Yoder launched Fulfullnmydestiny with a quick backside brush to the front end, taking the field through the halfway point in :55:3.

On the far turn, the gelded son of Tellitlikeitis began to separate from the field, opening up by 6-1/2 at the three-quarter station in 1:23.  In the stretch, Fulfullnmydestiny maintained his lead, using a :27 quarter to stride home to a convincing seven length 1:50 victory over Paw Patrol and Yourwishisgranted. Fulfullnmydestiny’s new track record for 2-year-old pacing geldings at Harrah’s Hoosier Park broke the previous mark of 1:50:3 was set in 2019 by former Indiana Sire Stakes champion and Milstein winner Odds On Osiris.

“I felt pretty good about him (Fulfullnmydestiny) coming in, he had been training great heading into tonight,” said driver and trainer James Yoder.  “He’s versatile colt that you can do what you want with and there is just no bottom to him.”

Fulfullnmydestiny is a Brett Boyd Racing homebred out of the Fox Valley Gallant mare Driven By Destiny. It was the second victory in five seasonal starts for the freshman and with the win, Fulfullnmydestiny has now banked $73,940 on the season for his connections.

Following the severe weather delay after the evening’s six race that left the track sloppy once racing restarted, Iwannabewithyou would pull off the 24-1 upset following a disqualification of second choice (3-1) JK Victory.  In the early stages of the mile, undefeated Soaring Now would skirmish with JK Victory before clearing to a :27 first quarter.

The field would remain in straight alignment up the backstretch, with Iwannabewithyou and John De Long trailing the field by 15-1/2 lengths as the field went through the half in :55:1.  On the turn, Iwannabewithyou began to narrow the gap, still trailing the field but within a more manageable eight lengths as Soaring Now led the field into the stretch through three quarters in 1:23:3.

In the stretch, Peter Wrenn squeezed the Nancy Takter trained JK Victory through the passing lane to be first across the line, however upon review, the judges deemed that JK Victory interfered with Topville Somrocket and Brandon Bates when making their move to the front and would be placed fourth.

In the meantime, it was Iwannabewithyou who swept by the remainder of the field following a powerful :26:1 final quarter for the second-placed first victory in 1:51:2.  The gelded son of first crop sire, Luck Be With You, picked up his second victory in three career starts for trainer Dylan Davis and owner John Schmucker. Out of the Dragon Again mare, Bo Tox Hanover, Iwannabewithyou was bred by Black Creek Farm and Hickory Hollow Stables of Indiana. The $8,000 Hoosier Classic Yearling purchase has now banked $31,000 on the season and returned $50 to his supporters at the betting windows.

Sire Luck Be With You picked up his second Sire Stakes victory on the evening, with Big Law pulling the mild upset in the $47,000 third and final division. Leaving aggressively from post three, Sam Widger guided Big Law to the lead in the early stages, pacing the field though a :27:2 first quarter.  Pressure came from the undefeated and heavily-favored Ponda Warrior and Brandon Bates who cleared on the backstretch to a :55 half.  Ponda Warrior held the lead at three-quarters in 1:23:2 under pressure from second choice the Longest Yard and Mike Oosting with Widger continuing to wait patiently in the pocket awaiting racing room in the stretch.

In the stretch, Widger steered Big Law to the passing lane and capitalized on a :28 final quarter to score the victory by a quarter of a length in 1:51:4 over a hard charging Incredible Badger and John De Long.  Dalby Hanover would round out the trifecta, finishing fourth placed third after contact with The Longest Yard in the stretch.

Trained by Randy Hatton who co-owns the gelding along with the breeder of the rookie, Oldfield Farm Inc., Big Law is out of the Fox Valley Barzgar mare, Miss Lucy O.  Big Law has picked up three victories in six starts in 2021 while earning $57,545.  Big Law paid $21.20 to win race 10.

Racing action will continue at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Saturday (Aug. 28), with action kicking off with a $15,000 guaranteed Early Pick-5 in races one through five following a $3,893.14 carryover from Thursday’s (Aug. 26) Late Pick-5. With a daily post time of 6:30 p.m., live racing at Harrah’s Hoosier Park will be conducted through Dec.4.

For more information on the upcoming live racing schedule, please visit www.harrahshoosierpark.com.