Hightstown, NJ – Swiss Lights has been lights out this season at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
A 3-year-old male pacer, Swiss Lights has finished no worse than third in any of his 14 races, all at Hoosier, with seven wins and five seconds among those results. He has earned $390,422 in purses, which is the second-highest total at Hoosier Park this season and trails track-leader Whoomp, a 3-year-old female pacer, by only $1,828.
Swiss Lights’ victories have included the $250,000 Indiana Sire Stakes championship for sophomore male pacers, which he captured Oct. 9 by a head over Odds On Mr Mamba, and the $50,000 Pegasus, which he won by three lengths in his most recent performance on Oct. 16. He has been first or second in six consecutive starts (with four wins) since the middle of August.
On Friday, Swiss Lights will face nine rivals in the $160,000 Grade 2 Monument Circle at Hoosier Park. He will leave from post 1 with regular driver Trace Tetrick in the sulky for trainer Jeff Cullipher, who co-owns the gelding with Pollack Racing. He is the 7-2 third choice on the morning line, behind Ron Burke-trained graded stakes winners Al Papi (5-2) and Melillo (3-1). Burke has five horses in the race overall.
“This is a step up, but I feel very fortunate we got the inside (post) so we can somewhat create our own trip,” Cullipher said. “Obviously, Ronnie has got five of them in there, with two of them being in the top tier of the 3-year-old division, but I’m excited. Even though we knew we were going to stay at Hoosier this year, I’m kind of glad to take on some of the open-class horses here just to see what he can do. Maybe we’ll get our butt spanked, but I’m excited to race in it.”
Cullipher and Tom Pollack bought Swiss Lights in early March after the son of Rockin Image-Shes Lights Out spent his 2-year-old campaign with trainer-driver Ricky Macomber Jr. and registered three wins and four third-place finishes in nine races. His victories included the Fox Stake on the Grand Circuit and a division of the Indiana Sire Stakes. He ended the year with $112,076 in earnings.
“An opportunity came to purchase him, and we jumped on it,” said Cullipher, who thought Swiss Lights had the most potential to improve as a 3-year-old compared to some of the other top freshmen at Hoosier in 2025. “We had a colt we raced against him, and I knew (Swiss Lights) was one of the upper-end colts as a 2-year-old. He’s a big, good-looking thing. I figured if any of them could step up, it would be him. Obviously, you don’t know until you get to race them, but we were comfortable with the price. It paid off quite good.”
He added about Swiss Lights’ schedule, “We never had plans to move him off of Hoosier Park as a 3-year-old because there’s plenty of money here. We were going to stay where we felt like we knew we belonged. Do I think he can race with some of the tougher colts? Probably. (But) he’s right at $400,000, so I think we managed things correctly.”
Swiss Lights opened this season with two wins, a second and a third in his first four races. In his fifth start, he opened eyes with a career-best 1:48.4 win in the third leg of the Indiana Sire Stakes, defeating North America Cup champ Odds On Mr Mamba in the process. And he just continued to roll from there on his way to the ninth-best earnings for a 3-year-old male pacer in North America so far this year.
“He’s very versatile,” Cullipher said. “He’s done it every which way and has been ultra-consistent. He’s somewhat been an easy horse to manage all year. He takes care of himself and has had a great attitude all year long. He goes out there when you’re jogging and he’s still bucking and playing around, just like he did when came out of the field. I think he’s just as good now as he’s been all year.”
The Monument Circle is one of four graded stakes on Friday’s card at Hoosier Park, with the $200,000 Carl Erskine Memorial (G2) for 3-year-old male trotters, $140,000 Crossroads of America (G3) for 3-year-old female trotters, and the $125,000 USS Indianapolis Memorial (G3) for 3-year-old female pacers.
Big Ranger, coming off a third-place finish in his Breeders Crown final last week, is the even-money morning-line favorite in the Erskine. Madam Cheval, the Kentucky Filly Futurity runner-up, is the 2-1 choice in the Crossroads of America while Whoomp, who was second in her Breeders Crown final, gets the 3-1 nod in the USS Indianapolis.
Racing begins at 5:30 p.m. (EDT) Friday at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. The four graded stakes events are races 11-14. For free Hoosier Park past performances, click here.