by Tammy Knox, Hoosier Park Publicity Department

ANDERSON, IND. (April 10, 2004) — Luckyisasluckydoes won his fifth consecutive race to win the $200,000 Dan Patch Invitational Pace Saturday, April 10. Driven by Mike Saftic, the Rosemary Noonan-trained gelding dominated the field from the halfway mark home. A crowd of 6,178 witnessed the event, which has become Hoosier Park’s premier harness race.

Jim Linscott Photo

Luckyisasluckydoes remained red hot with a win in the Dan Patch Invitational

Starting from post three, Saftic opted to let other horses roll on to the lead, settling in fourth before making a bold move to the lead past the first quarter-mile marker in a time of :26.2. Once the lead was secured, Luckyisasluckydoes was in complete control for the remainder of the race.

“I knew there were several horses in this field that had a lot of early speed,” said Saftic, who is among the top ten drivers on the Canadian racing circuit. “I didn’t want to fight them for the lead, so I decided to just settle in early before making one strong move to the front.”

Luckyisasluckydoes was well under wraps for Saftic, keeping his distance from race favorite Life Source and Brett Miller, who tracked their moves from second place. The five-year-old Camluck gelding had a jump on the rest of the field when the field turned for home.

“I knew there were some horses in here that could finish well, and I wanted to be ready for them,” said Saftic. “I was aware of Eaton Road Kill. I knew he’d be closing in late.”

Eaton Road Kill and driver Eric Ledford were closing in moderately on the leaders near the wire, but could not reach Luckyisasluckydoes as the timer was stopped at 1:50.0. Life Source maintained his ground inside for third.

“Ledford’s horse (Eaton Road Kill) was flying at the end to get by us,” said Miller. “I felt my horse (Life Source) raced really well, he just got overpowered tonight.”

Luckyisasluckydoes increased his career bankroll to more than $642,000 with the victory. He also earned the victory on just three shoes, throwing one somewhere down the backstretch during the race.

Luckyisasluckydoes paid $8.20, $3.80, and $3.00 across the board. A total of $195,635 was wagered on the Dan Patch race.

Hoosier Park, a majority-owned property of Churchill Downs Incorporated (Nasdaq: CHDN), also operates simulcast-wagering facilities in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Merrillville, Ind. Hoosier Park’s Standardbred season runs through Saturday, June 12. Live racing is conducted Wednesday through Sunday with the first race going to post at 6:45 p.m. No racing will be conducted Easter Sunday April 11. Information about Hoosier Park racing and all of its facilities can be found on the Internet at www.hoosierpark.com.