ABC Photo wins Indy sire stake

ABC Photo and Lemoyne “Mooney” Svendsen embarked on a fierce stretch battle with race favorite Solvent and Jay Cross Friday, June 11. They were successful in their quest, taking home the prize in the third round of Indiana Sires Stakes action at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino.

Starting from post three, Svendsen dropped to the rail quickly as Canwecheatumnwhen, driven by trainer Charlie Conrad, topped the field before the quarter-mile marker in :28.3. ABC Photo moved to the outside down the backstretch and was followed by Solvent to the halfway marker in :58.0 before making the lead. Around the turn, Solvent sat to the outside of ABC Photo and waited for the stretch battle.

In the stretch, ABC Photo and Solvent began to break away from the pack. They both turned in strong performances, but Solvent could not get past ABC Photo in the end, giving him the nod by three-quarters of a length in a time of 1:57.1. Dakota’s Final and Ricky Macomber were nine lengths back in third.

“He (ABC Photo) is all trot,” said Svendsen. “He is still learning, and he puts in some funny steps at times but he comes back down trotting. He has a trotting horse heart. He was still fighting at the wire tonight.”

ABC Photo made only his fourth start of 2010 a winning one for owners DM Stables of Naples, Fla. Bobby Brower trains the sophomore gelding by ABC Garland, who won six of 10 starts at two. He now has more than $143,000 in career earnings.

“He (ABC Photo) raced well last year and turned up colt sore, so we took him to Rude and Riddle in Lexington,” said Brower. “Turns out, he was just growing too much. But he’s come back better this year. He’s still learning and although he’s three, he has the mind of a younger horse.”

Brower has also incorporated a unique way to keep the trotter balanced. Instead of knee boots, ABC Photo wears athletic tape around his knees for protection.

“I learned that from watching other horsemen, such as the Swedish trainers,” said Brower. “If a horse just brushes their knees, the tape works well and widens them out in front. We had another trotter, Snow White, that wore tape and we had success with her doing that.”

Another unique trick with ABC Photo came in the form of the race bike he pulled. Svendsen, who drives first call for trainer Bob Johnson, placed his specially-made Harmer bike behind the trotter.

“This bike is red hot right now,” said Svendsen. “World of Rocknroll won with it in the Hoosier Cup and it’s won a couple of Sires Stakes now. It’s extra wide and two inches taller. It was made special for one of Bobby’s horses, Keystone Eli. It’s the biggest bike on the grounds.” (Hoosier Park)