Fresh off an evening of longshot winners, the trend continued Thursday, Sept. 1 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Bluebird Venus and Kevin Lambright recorded one of the biggest payouts of the season at odds of 62-1 in conditioned pacing action.
Bluebird Venus and Kevin Lambright make their way back to the winner’s circle after their win at odds of 62-1 Thursday, Sept. 1.
Having post one allowed Bluebird Venus to hold her ground inside as Hugs and Kisses and Peter Wrenn and Party Shaker and Joey Putnam both moved to the lead from the center of the track. Lady Angel and Ricky Macomber Jr. left just enough to get in front of Bluebird Venus at the quarter in :27.0. Once the field had settled in, Lady Angel moved out and around to the lead from Party Shaker at the half in :56.1 with Hugs and Kisses back out to challenge and take over by the three-quarters in 1:25.2. All this time, Bluebird Venus stayed on the inside and at times, was gapping by open lengths off the top three. She had a few opportunities to move out behind cover but Lambright chose to stay inside, which proved to be good strategy.
In the stretch, Bluebird Venus was able to dip to the inside and close in on Lady Angel. Hugs and Kisses was also not going away quietly and challenged from the outside. Bluebird Venus timed her move just right to win the three-horse photo by a neck over Hugs and Kisses. Lady Angel was third in the 1:53.1 mile.
Bluebird Venus paid $126.40 for the win. The Rockin Image three-year-old filly is trained by Bill Beechy and owned by Beechy and Flying Manes LLC. Daryl Miller bred the filly, who was making her 12th start of the year. It was her second win of the season with her mile in mid-June clocked in 1:52.3. She was lightly raced at two with no wins to her credit.
Bluebird Venus is royally bred. She is a full sister to the standout Indiana mare Rockin Serena, who retired with a mark of 1:51.0 and more than $400,000 in earnings. Her mother, Day Lily Hanover, is a 100 percent producer with the two-year-old Bluebird Graf also racing this year. Besides the two-year-old, all five foals out of Day Lily Hanover have marks under 1:55.0.
Beechy purchased Bluebird Venus as a yearling. He and his partner purchased the filly for $10,000 from the Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale. She was part of an impressive class of 80 that sold at public auction by Rockin Image, who continues to have banner years as a sire in Indiana.
Another longshot winner on the night was in the $68,500 Indiana Sires Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies. Queen’s Reign and Michael Oosting closed in late for the win in 1:53.0 over Beauty N Grace and Atlee Bender. Fortunada and John DeLong finished third.
Queen’s Reign paid $21.00 for the win. The JK Endofanera filly is owned by Watermark Farm LLC, who also bred the filly. It was the first win of her career in her eighth career outing after finishing second in six of her seven previous starts. She was recently timed in 1:51.1 at The Red Mile.