Art Official used a triumph in the $500,000 Hoosier Cup in late June as a springboard to a world record 1:47 score and upset of undefeated Somebeachsomewhere in the $1.1 million Meadowlands Pace. Now, trainer Joe Seekman is returning to Indiana, pointing the son of Art Major to the newly-created $150,000 Monument Circle, Indiana Downs’ lucrative stake for 3-year-old pacers on Aug. 2.
“We laid out his schedule this winter when we were making stakes payments,” Seekman explained. “He has a race in two weeks at the Indiana State Fair (the Horseman Stake), and the goal is to get him ready for The Red Mile and later this fall.”
Seekman, who conditions the millionaire colt for James Jesk’s Sawgrass Farms, added that when Art Official lines up behind the gate at Indiana Downs, he plans to have Ron Pierce in the bike. Pierce picked up the drive when Ryan Anderson was sidelined with an injury prior to the Meadowlands Pace eliminations. The Hall of Fame driver will have a full plate that day, driving Pine After Pine in the $1.5 million Hambletonian before catching a flight to central Indiana. “It’s going to be tight on Hambo Day, but we’re going to try to swing it,” the trainer added. In addition to The Monument Circle, Indiana Downs will also offer the Elevation for freshman pacing colts Saturday evening. Now in its second running, the purse was raised from $53,000 in 2007 to an estimated $150,000 this year. Seekman plans to enter Annieswesterncard, a gelded son of Western Hanover, in the race. Pierce is slated to drive the Sawgrass Farms entry.
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