Anderson, IN — Rookie pacing colts took center stage at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Friday (Aug. 15) with a pair of splits of $66,000 round three splits of Indiana Sire Stakes won by JK The Great and Dancingdreamer highlighting the 13-race card.
JK The Great and driver Marcus Miller kicked off the Friday card with a mild 3-1 upset from the outside post six in the first division. Miller hustled JK The Great to the lead from the outside as What Nooo Waaay (John De Long) grabbed the pocket through an opening quarter of :27. The field remained single file to the half in :56.1 when JK The Great and What Nooo Waaay began to separate from the remainder of the field on the final turn before reaching three-quarters in 1:24.3.
What Nooo Waaay popped the pocket turning for home, powering alongside JK The Great as the two began to slug it out in the lane. What Nooo Waaay grabbed a narrow lead at the edge of the toteboard when JK The Great battled back to regain the advantage on the wire and win by a nose in a career best 1:51.1. 3-2 favorite Swiss Lights (Ricky Macomber Jr.) finished third, 5-3/4 lengths back of the winner.
Trained and co-owned by Erv Miller along with Tanah Merah Farms, JK The Great has now won two of five on the year, with each of those wins coming in his last two tries. The gelded son of JK Endofanera-Bossy Linda now boasts career earnings of $59,725.
In the second division, Dancingdreamer rebounded from his first career defeat in his last as the 1-9 favorite with trainer Aaron Stutzman in the bike. Leaving from post five, Dancingdreamer was unable to find a seat on the first turn and raced to the outside of Mystical Rock It (Trace Tetrick) who cut the quarter in :27. Dancingdreamer powered clear on the backstretch, leading to the halfway point in :55.4 before carrying a near two-length advantage to three-quarters in 1:24.3.
Stutzman began to call on Dancingdreamer for more at the top of the lane, with the favorite responding and opening up by 2-1/2 length lead midway through the stretch. From there, Dancingdreamer was a geared down winner in 1:52 by 1-3/4 lengths over 32-1 shot, Fire Inside (Kyle Wilfong), who split horses late to be second over Cowboy Show (LeWayne Miller).
Owned by Desyllas Racing, William Beck and Jeffrey Eckburg, Dancingdreamer has won three of four starts on the year. The son of Rockin Image-Doc’s Diva now boasts a career bankroll of $90,250.
Racing continues on Saturday, Aug. 16 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park with a 14-race card set to get underway at 5:30 p.m. Free online programs and access to race replays are available on the Hoosier Park website, while Qualifier replays are available on the Hoosier Park AV YouTube channel.
For more information on the 2025 live racing season at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, guests are encouraged to visit www.harrahshoosierpark.com.