Artistic Fella wins Dan Patch at Hoosier Park
April 29, 2007,by Tammy Knox, publicity director, Hoosier Park
Anderson, IND. – Artistic Fella and driver Cat Manzi were victorious in the 14th edition of the $200,000 Dan Patch Invitational Pace at Hoosier Park Saturday, April 28. The duo crossed the wire in 1:49.4, the fastest mile at Hoosier Park since the 2005 racing season.
Starting from post seven in the 10-horse lineup, Artistic Fella and Cat Manzi floated out to the center of the pack while several horses exchanged shots at the lead. Following the quarter in :26.3, Load The Dice and Hoosier Park’s all-time leading driver Don Irvine Jr. had secured the lead.
However, it was Artistic Fella that was out and moving to bump them from control at the half-way marker in :54.2.
Artistic Fella was in complete control of the second portion of the race. In the stretch, his lead became more dominant as he coasted under the wire in his second win of 2007 in only three outings. Shark Gesture and Brent Holland finished second. My Boy David and Ryan Anderson powered home in third.
“When you are racing for $200,000, you have to be ready,” said Manzi, who has more than 12,000 career victories. “This is my best work when I just let things happen. When a horse performs like this, it is not a job.”
Artistic Fella increased his career earnings to more than $1.1 million. Trained by Steve Elliott, the four-year-old son of Pacific Fella is owned by Joe Albarano of New Egypt, NJ. Artistic Fella joins his father as a winner of the Dan Patch.
“There are a lot of similarities between this horse and Pacific Fella,” said Manzi, who guided Pacific Fella to victory in the 1998 edition of the Dan Patch in a track record time of 1:48.4. “In fact, I think this horse is better than his father.”
Artistic Fella returned $4.00, $3.20, and $3.00 as the favorite. A total of 3,142 people were in attendance for the event.
When asked about venturing to Indiana to drive Artistic Fella, Manzi said, “I wasn’t going to let him come out here by himself. I really like this horse, and I’ll travel everywhere with him.”