The racing season is officially underway at Harrah’s Hoosier Park with the first round of qualifiers completed Wednesday, March 9. A total of nine races were on the card with the Trent Stohler Stable strong out of the gate, winning four of those events.
The fourth race during the first qualifiers of 2022 heads down the backstretch Wednesday, March 9 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
Indiana sired I’vegotagirlcrush and Sam Widger earned a win in their qualifier in 1:56.1. The seven-year-old Real Desire gelding got away third in the five-horse field that stayed close together most of the mile as Shady’s Starlight and John DeLong set fractions of :28.3, 1:00.0, and 1:29.1.
In the stretch several lead changes took place with Crusher Q and Trace Tetrick taking over late in the lane. I’vegotagirlcrush moved quickly on the outside and nipped Crusher Q at the wire by a nose. Shady’s Starlight finished third.
I’vegotagirlcrush is owned by Trent Stohler Stable Inc. and Sheralyn Stohler Equine LLC. The homebred gelding is from the family’s Extreme Velocity line with her mother, Viva Velocity, a daughter of the great Extreme Velocity, taking a mark of 1:55.2 during her career. I’vegotagirlcrush has more than $171,000 in career earnings with a career best time of 1:51.0 taken as a four-year-old at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
Another member of the Extreme Velocity line was also a winner earlier in the card. Captain Velocity and John DeLong sat patiently in third before moving down the stretch with a final quarter in :26.4 for the win. Always Windy and Trace Tetrick finished second over Cheese Omelet and Tim Wilson for third. The time of the mile was 1:54.3. The homebred gelding, an eight-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere, is from the Stohler Family’s tough race mare Ultimate Velocity, also a daughter of Extreme Velocity. The mare earned a mark of 1:51.1 and more than $254,000 during her career before becoming a member of the brood mare band for the Stohler family.
The other winners on the qualifying card from the Stohler Stable included The Moma Dance and Corporalpunishment, both driven by John DeLong. The Moma Dance is a three-year-old daughter of Ponder, who won her qualifier in 1:58.2 and Corporalpunishment is a son of Odds On Equuleus, who took the title in his qualifier in 1:58.4.
The quickest qualifier of the day went to Grace Rocks and Joey Putnam. The duo covered the one-mile distance in 1:55.4, a final quarter paced in :26.3 off a near gate to wire effort. The five-year-old daughter of Rockin Image is trained by Britney Dillon for owner Howard Taylor. Victory Hill Farm is the breeder on Grace Rocks, who was making her first appearance in 2022. The mare has 13 wins in 37 starts and earnings over $287,000. She has eclipsed the 1:50 time barrier the past two years with her career best time taken as a three-year-old in 1:49.2.