Ombre Art paints a Hoosier win

The Binkley Stable had another successful Indiana Sires Stakes evening, this time with a different horse making it to the winner’s circle. Ombre Art bested a field of eight in a division of the $40,000 event for three-year-old pacing colts Friday, June 11 at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino.

Driven by Josh Sutton, Ombre Art made his presence known early from behind the Todd Nixon starting gate. He slid over quickly to grab the front spot from McStraight and Trace Tetrick before hitting the first turn and establishing the first quarter in :27.4. As soon as the horses had hit the backstretch, Tetrick was out and moving back to the lead, but his time on the top was short lived. Race favorite Viking Kilowatt and leading driver Peter Wrenn rallied from mid-pack and took control of the pace, passing the halfway point in :55.4.

Sutton was able to sit inside until halfway through the turn when he was flushed to the outside with Ombre Art. At that point, the sophomore son of Royal Art made a quick move to the leader and was primed and ready for the final quarter of a mile.

In the stretch, Ombre Art kept his speed level elevated and overtook Viking Kilowatt. Halfway through the lane, McStraight was able to shake loose from behind Viking Kilowatt but he could not reach Ombre Art, who coasted under the wire in a time of 1:55.0, two and one-quarter lengths ahead of McStraight for the win. Viking Kilowatt was close behind for third.

“This colt (Ombre Art) was good when we started breaking him and has always shown a lot of promise,” said Ewell Binkley, who owns and trains. “We bought him on account of his mother. We had his half-sister, Johnathans Penny, and she won a leg of the Sires Stakes before we sold her.”

Ombre Art now has two wins in eight starts for 2010. A $3,500 yearling purchase, the slightly smaller in stature colt increased his career earnings to more than $86,000 with the win.

“Josh (Sutton) has always driven for me,” said Binkley. “He gets more out of my horses than anyone else. He calls me ‘Uncle Ewell’ but we are no relation. I signed for his license down at Thunder Ridge when he was nothing but a kid.”

Sutton and Binkley teamed up during the second preliminary round of Sires Stakes to bring home another surprise winner among the three-year-old colts. Blue Creek Abner led gate to wire to win his division of Sires Stakes. However, he wasn’t as solid in the third round, tiring in the lane after leading the way and finishing out of the money as Iron Claw and Charlie Conrad were easy winners in a time of 1:53.2.

“Josh thought he drove him (Blue Creek Abner) bad, but I didn’t think that,” said Binkley. “You can’t win ‘em all.”

Winless in 13 starts last year, Blue Creek Abner has hit his stride this season.  In eight starts, the gelded son of Tooter Scooter has only missed the top three twice for owner Barry Binkley. He now has earnings in excess of $55,000.

“We only paid $1,000 for this colt at the yearling sale,” said Binkley. “When I saw he was by Tooter Scooter, I told my son, Barry, that he wouldn’t bring much. People over here weren’t familiar with him (Tooter Scooter), but I’d had a couple of colts by him in the past and they were race horses. Dan Shetler drove him last year. He drove him good every time, but seemed like he could only finish second or third.”

Binkley has been in the horse racing industry since he was a kid. He grew up around the Sunday matinees near his hometown in Henning, Tn. and accompanied Louis Mann to the Illinois fair circuit one summer, which gave him the bug to be in it as a career.

Since that time, he and his brother, Robert, have produced numerous winners, mainly on the Illinois and Kentucky circuits. Notable horses from their stable include Mister Dizzle, Prince Russ, and Dizzle Fizzle, who was the fastest Illinois filly in Illinois at both two and three and earned more than $233,000.

Today, Binkley concentrates only on the Indiana circuit and competes at Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs before heading south to his home in Tennessee. He and his wife, Barb, do all of the work themselves and currently have six in training at Hoosier Park.

“I still live where I used to catch the school bus,” said Binkley. “We have a farm with a half-mile track and after Indiana’s done racing in the fall, we go home and turn them out. Eight months is long enough to be away from home.”

One trademark look from Binkley are the crew cuts for all the horses. None of them sport a foretop for any reason while they reside in the Binkley barn.

“I’m an old army man,” said Binkley, who served in the National Guard for nine years as a squad sergeant. “They all get their heads shaved. If you don’t platt (braid) them up, then they are always in the way.” (Hoosier Park)

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