by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — In a year when Color’s A Virgin and Always B Miki rightfully dominated the spotlight in the Hoosier State, Airman Batten glided a bit under the radar. This handsome black trotting colt, however, did garner some buzz in the Midwest and will certainly seek to resume flight on the course his connections chart for him in 2015.

“I did train Swan For All and of course we had some luck with him,” said Erv Miller, who is Airman Batten’s conditioner. “So that was one reason I picked him out and the other reason was he was a horse with a very good conformation.”

Bred by Richard Fry, the colt was purchased for $16,000 under the name Swan Locomotive at the 2013 Hoosier Classic Sale by Paymaq Racing, Harvey Eisman and Greg Gillis. The first foal out of the Yankee Glide mare Ladylike Volo, Airman Batten is the second most financially prolific offspring of his young sire, Swan For All, with earnings of $296,760 in his first season of competition. Like his sire, Airman Batten was brilliant as a freshman with a record of 14-10-2-2 and a mark of 1:55.4s established at Hoosier Park on August 27 in a $20,000 Indiana Sire Stakes elimination.

Nigel Soult photo

Airman Batten won 10 times as a freshman, with earnings of $296,760.

“He really trained well all the way down,” Miller said. “We never had any problems with him, which is unusual because even with the good horses, something always seems to come up. Thinking about it, we really did not have to do anything with him last fall down in Florida, as he is naturally good gaited and has a nice mind.”

Steered by LeWayne Miller in all of his pari-mutuel engagements, Airman Batten broke his maiden in his debut on June 24 over the Anderson oval in a $20,000 Indiana Sire Stakes elimination. He suffered his first defeat in his second start, which was a $75,000 Indiana Sire Stakes final, as he broke behind the gate and got away ninth. He did recover, however, and came home third, fastest of all with a last panel in :28.1.

After that miscue, Airman Batten reeled off seven straight triumphs, including a trio of $75,000 Indiana Sire Stakes finals and a $10,000 Kindergarten Classic leg at The Red Mile on Sept. 11.

“He went out there after training down and raced really well,” Miller said. “We qualified him once in Pennsylvania, where I start out the season, at Pocono. He showed he had some talent there, but you never know what kind of horse they are going to be.”

He suffered his second defeat to $99.60 winner Whataworkout in another $10,000 Kindergarten leg the following week. This was after he was impeded by the breaking Keystone Bodacious in the first quarter-mile, recovered and then chased the winner while trotting first over, eventually finishing second by 1-3/4 lengths.

Airman Batten followed that performance with two more triumphs over his Indiana rivals before being out-finished in the $220,000 Indiana Sire Stakes final on Oct. 18 by Quiet Hall.

He capped off his season by trotting home third in the $240,500 Kindergarten final at Vernon Downs on Nov. 1.

“He was really running out hard on the left line that night in Indiana,” Miller said. “Then after his last race at Vernon Downs, we found a little line of his left knee that we thought was bothering him. He had raced enough for the year and deserved some time off.”

When Airman Batten returns from his winter vacation, his connections will probably elect to keep him within the confines of his home state.

“We x-rayed his knee again and it was only a small spot we knew was bothering him, but it is healing just fine,” Miller said. “It should not be any problem at all when we bring him back in. We will probably keep him in everything in Indiana. We have not really pursued any other avenues with him and if there is another spot in a stakes that is outside the program while fitting into it so we don’t miss anything, we will examine that for him.

“The money is excellent here in Indiana, so you don’t want to take the chance of putting him another stake and missing an opportunity in that program. That is why he has almost $300,000 on his card. We are very pleased with him as he is a very nice horse and you could not have asked for a better year from him.”