by Tammy Knox, Publicity Director, Hoosier Park

Anderson, IN — Maltese Artist and driver Ron Pierce turned in a sub-1:50 mile at Hoosier Park on Saturday, April 30 to win the $200,000 Dan Patch Invitational Pace. The duo earned their second straight victory, coming into Indiana fresh off of their world record performance of 1:48.3 at Dover Downs.

Starting from post nine, Maltese Artist busted out of the gate for the early lead, meeting up with He Wants It All and Tony Morgan along with Admiral’s Express and Brad Kramer with the same intentions. The trio moved into the first turn together before Pierce backed off of the other two horses, slipping in behind Admiral’s Express past the quarter-mile marker in :26.1.

Jim Linscott photo

Maltese Artist and driver Ron Pierce won Saturday’s $200,000 Dan Patch Invitational Pace in 1:49.4.

Admiral’s Express powered on to the lead and was quickly overtaken by Maltese Artist before the halfway point in a time of :53.4. Maltese Artist looked in full control of the field and appeared to be prepared to battle any opponents with a hard fight for the remainder of the mile.

“With the final quarter left, I decided now would be a good time to get a jump, so I just put him in gear,” said Pierce. “This was a great field. That was another reason to get away from them off the turn. He’s just a great horse to drive. He’s perfect to handle.”

In the stretch several horses fanned across the track with hopes of running down Maltese Artist. However, Pierce had gunned him far enough in front of the field to make the endeavor almost impossible. Maltese Artist was well in hand by two lengths as he crossed under the wire in a time of 1:49.4. Canyon Wind and David Miller came the closest to catching him, finishing second while Whosurboy and Ricky Macomber Jr. finished third.

“Maltese Artist is a very sharp horse,” said Miller. “We got away in a bad spot at the start. He (Canyon Wind) charged hard heading to the wire, but he would not have caught up to Maltese Artist, no matter how hard we tried.”

Maltese Artist is owned by George Leon, John Howard, and James Koran. The four-year-old son of Artiscape is trained by Michael Burke. Burke’s son, Ron, serves as an assistant for the stable and handled the horse’s trip to Indiana.

“He’s a real simple horse to train,” said Ron. “You just put the harness on him and ask him to go. We shipped him to Indiana on Friday and turned him out. That’s his normal routine. This was his truest test yet in with this field. He’s a four-year-old racing against aged horses. Hopefully, he will get better with age.”