Anderson, IN — Sabonis headlined the Peter Haughton undercard at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Friday (Sept. 13), crushing in the $75,000 Hoosier Cup Final for Indiana-sired 3-year-old pacing colts for his 11th consecutive victory. The Hoosier Cup was featured along nine divisions of Indiana Sire Stakes with purses on the night totaling $1.275 million.
Sent off as the 1-9 bettors’ choice from the rail, Sabonis and regular pilot Joey Putnamaway in good order third early while Midnight Rocker (driven by Trace Tetrick) led to the first quarter in :27. Putnam moved Sabonis from third on the backstretch, taking command before reaching the half in :55.1. Putnam cut Sabonis loose entering the final turn, powering away by 3-1/2 lengths at three-quarters in 1:22.4.
Sabonis continued his fast break turning for home, racing away by 5-1/2 lengths midway through the lane with M-M’s Bud (Pete Wrenn) and Dale Yea (Marvin Luna) racing for second. Putnam geared Sabonis down in deep stretch, crossing the wire clear by 1-1/4 lengths and stopping the clock in 1:49.3.
M-M’s Bud finished second; Dale Yea was third.
Aaron Stutzman trainee Sabonis has won 14 of 15 starts and banked $388,250 this year for owner Pat Miller. The son of Tellitlikeitis-Gypsy Bellevue has only tasted defeat twice in his career, hitting the board in all 16 of his lifetime outings.
Along with the Hoosier Cup, the penultimate leg of Indiana Sires Stakes for rookie pacers and sophomore trotters were contested on the 14-race card.
2-Year-Old Pacing Fillies
A race after Putnam and Stutzman won with Sabonis, the duo immediately followed with a victory in the first $68,000 ISS split for 2-year-old pacing fillies. The 2-5 favorite grabbed command early from post five before outlasting a surging JK Pearl Stone (Wrenn) to record her fifth consecutive victory with a clocking of 1:52.2. Heart Song (Tetrick) finished third.
The $13,000 bargain buy at last fall’s Hoosier Classic has earned $142,750 during a campaign, which has seen her win five of six starts. James Miller owns the daughter of JK Endofanera-Get Your Armor, who was bred by Brookview Farms.
Can’ttouchthese rebounded from a defeat to Brookview Fancy in her last outing to score in the second $68,000 division. Driver John DeLong secured the pocket position behind JK’s Flirty Girl before squeezing through traffic turning for home to cross the wire 2-3/4 lengths clear in a career best 1:52.3. Vel Cinderella (Tetrick) closed from second to last turning for home to be second, Wunderkindbluechip (Jordan Ross) finished third.
The homebred daughter of JK Endofanera-Can’t Touch This was bred by William and Patrick DeLong along with Douglas Riccolo. A winner in four of six starts this season, the earner of $96,620 is trained by Roger Welch.
2-Year-Old Pacing Colts
Odds On Brahmastra was able to overcome post position eight to break maiden with a 1:51.1 score in his $46,500 ISS split for 2-year-old pacing colts and geldings. Driven by Peter Wrenn, the son of Odds On Equuleus-Mach Some Noise took advantage of torrid first-half fractions of :26 and :53.4 and utilized a :27.1 closing kick to win by a head over Big Al DeRosa and Jordan Ross. Checking Out and Scott Zeron also rallied well late for third. Sent off at odds near 30-1, Odds On Brahmastra returned $61.20 for the win.
Owned and bred by Odds On Racing, Odds On Brahmastra scored his first win in seven starts. The freshman colt is trained by Melanie Wrenn and pushed his lifetime bankroll to $28,180.
Chandler Bing utilized similar tactics to score in the second stakes split for 2-year-old pacing colts and geldings in a lifetime-best 1:50.4 clocking. Ahva Sholum and Kyle Wilfong were responsible for the first half splits of :27.3 and :56 while Chandler Bing waited patiently off the pace. Driver Jay Cross found late racing room down the lane and Chandler Bing responded gamely with a :26 closing kick to win by a half length over Avanti and driver John DeLong. The Family Man and Mike Oosting rounded out the trifecta. Chandler Bing returned $24.60 for the upset victory.
The gelded son of Tellitlikeitis-Northern Beauty scored his third win from seven starts and has earned $68,540 this season for trainer Alvin Miller, who shares ownership with Twila Harts.
3-Year-Old Trotting Fillies
A pair of $50,000 ISS divisions for 3-year-old trotting fillies saw the favorites deliver in front-end fashion in each.
Hail Broadway and Jordan Ross took command from the outset, having things their way on the lead before sprinting away from pocket sitter Agent Of Fortune (Robert Taylor) with a :27.1 final quarter to stop the timer in 1:54.1. Somebody Special (Scott Zeron) edged out Star Pilot (Tetrick) for third.
Trained by Luis Quevedo, John Barnard’s homebred daughter of Swan For All-Pray With Me has won six of 11 starts on the year while banking $188,600 in earnings lifetime.
Robert Taylor did one better in the second division, teaming up with Danger to overcome post nine. Parked to the quarter in :27.4, Danger backed things down in the middle half before rocketing home in :27.2 to score a 3-1/4-length score in a career best 1:53.4. Skyway Paige (LeWayne Miller) finished second; Starlit Dora (Mike Oosting) finished third.
Taylor also trains for owners Anthony Lombardi and George Golemes. Bred by Steve Stewart and Chris Beaver, the 3-year-old rookie daughter of Swan For All-Chim Swift has won seven of eight starts while sporting earnings of $112,521.
3-Year-Old Trotting Colts
Dashing Danny continued his divisional dominance in the second ISS split, scoring in 1:54.1 with regular pilot Kyle Wilfong in the bike. In near gate-to-wire fashion, Dashing Danny reached the lead just after the :28 quarter and went on to dictate fractions of :57 and 1:26.2 before trotting away from his competition. Dashing Danny finished two lengths to the good over Flirtinwiththepilot and Peter Wrenn, while Ira Who and Jared Finn completed the trifecta. Sent off as the heavy favorite, Dashing Dany returned $2.10 for the victory.
Trained by Jeff Cullipher, the gelded son of Dover Dan-Sashay recorded his sixth win from seven seasonal starts. With the win, Dashing Danny pushed his lifetime bankroll to $344,837 for owners Pollack Racing LLC and Jeffrey Cullipher.
In the opening division, Winslow and trainer-driver Dan Shetler got up in the final strides to pull a slight upset in 1:53.3. Cs Flying Co-Pilot and driver Trace Tetrick dictated fractions of :27.4 and :57.1 while Winslow was along the rail in fifth. Turning for home, Shetler tipped Winslow past tiring cover, and he responded with a :27.1 closing kick to put a nose in front of Helpem Dance and driver Dexter Dunn. Cs Flying Co-Pilot held on for third. Winslow returned $7.40 for the victory.
The gelded son of Swan For All-Allie Labrook recorded his fourth win from 12 starts this season. The 1:53.3 clocking was a new lifetime best for the 3-year-old gelding, who is owned in partnership by Dojea Stable and Dan Shetler, who is also the breeder.
Grand circuit racing action continues at Harrah’s Hoosier Park next Friday (Sept. 20) as part of the $200,000 (est.) Caesars Trotting Classic card. The evening will feature nine stakes races worth over $1.2 million. First post for the Caesars Trotting Classic card is 6 p.m.
The week of racing concludes at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Saturday (Sept. 14) with a 12-race card set to get underway at 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.harrahshoosierpark.com.