Indiana Downs hosts big stakes weekend

More than $800,000 in purses will be up for grabs Saturday, August 22 at Indiana Downs as the Shelbyville track plays host to a quartet of lucrative stakes on the 14-race program. The card will feature freshman filly pacers and trotters competing in the Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stakes while three-year-old colts will contest open stakes for both gaits. First post is set for 6:55 p.m.

 

A field of 10 fillies will battle for top prize in the $197,500 Kentuckian Stallion Management Stakes for freshman pacers. Trainer Joe Seekman will send out a trio of two year olds – Real Surprising, Flip Flop Summer and Artcam – each with a win to their credit. Ron Burke will also field a two-horse entry which includes Lets Go B B, a full sister to Indiana-bred standout Go On BB. Sterling Silver, trained by Homer Hochstetler, possesses the fastest time in the field with a 1:54.4 clocking at Balmoral Park.

 

A total of 20 trotting fillies dropped in the box for Saturday’s Kentuckiana stakes, resulting in two $93,750 divisions carded as races five and six on the program. Behindclosedoors, from the Chuck Sylvester barn, enters the first division off a fifth-place performance in the $525,800 Merrie Annabelle. The Andover Hall freshman has two wins to her credit and nearly $80,000 in earnings while taking a mark of 1:59. She will be part of a three-horse entry which will include Secret Magic and Silicone Valley. Glide By, trained by Jimmy Takter, has also drawn into the first division.

 

Cantab It All, a winner of four straight before finishing fourth in the Merrie Annabelle, heads the second division for Takter. The Cantab Hall filly shows a mark of 1:55.3 and earnings exceeding $75,000. She is half of a Takter-trained entry that includes Andover Hall freshman Ruffles. Robert Fellows’ Gliding Fashion will enter Saturday’s race on a two-race win streak. The Yankee Glide two year old took a mark of 1:59.3 in her last start at Mohawk. Will Of A Woman, a winner in New Jersey Sire Stakes action, will look to add her second seasonal win for trainer Ron Gurfein.

 

The Oliver Trotting Classic, a new stake at Indiana Downs for sophomore colt trotters, has attracted two seven-horse fields. The first $55,000 division will feature several nice colts. The Jim Daily-trained B Contemporary leads the group in seasonal earnings. The Pegasus Spur gelding has won five times racing in Ohio and Indiana, banking $52,706. Indiana Sires Stakes champion Bar One follows with $50,650 this season for Bill Smith. Winning Mister looks to rebound from a sixth-place finish in the Townsend Ackerman while Montana Steel enters Saturday’s contest after winning in 1:55.4 at the Meadowlands.

 

S J’s Photo gelding Photoforwin heads the list of sophomores slated to compete in the second Oliver Trotting Classic division. The homebred, owned and trained by Rick Beinhauer, has won four times in 2009 including a 1:55.1 score in the Goodtimes at Mohawk. Triumphant Caviar, a winner in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes competition, has also drawn into the second split. The SJ’s Caviar colt will ship to Shelbyville after an eighth-place effort in the $1.5 million Hambletonian.

 

The feature on Saturday’s program is the $231,500 Monument Circle for three-year-old colt pacers. Now in its second year, the Monument Circle attracted a full field of 10, with Annieswesterncard and Vertical Horizon topping the list. Annieswesterncard scorched the oval at Harrah’s Chester Downs with a 1:49.4 effort. The Western Hanover gelding has won at Indiana Downs previously, capturing a division of The Elevation last season. Seekman, who trains the pacer is looking for a repeat in the Monument Circle after winning the inaugural event last year with Art Official.

 

Vertical Horizon is half of the Bulletproof Enterprises entry, joined by Amazon Art, going postward for trainer Bjorn Noren. The Western Ideal colt finished third in the $228,500 Oliver Wendell Holmes before following with a third-place effort behind Annieswesterncard at Chester Downs. He has won three times in 14 seasonal starts.

 

Joining these two in the Monument Circle are several other speedy colts. Doubletrouble, a 1:50.3 winner at Balmoral, has entered, as has Standupnkissme, who scored a 1:50.3 triumph in a conditioned race at Indiana Downs two starts back. Erv Miller will send Western Ideal colt Ideal Danny, who has knocked heads with the best in the Meadowlands Pace, Adios and Battle of Brandywine. Evening Job, a winner in six of eight starts this year in Indiana, will provide some local flavor. (Indiana Downs)