Mister Hercules is standing tall right now. The two-year-old pacing colt endured a few minor hiccups before rallying to victory in the only mile under the 2:00 time barrier Monday, July 31 at the Fayette County Fairgrounds in Connersville.
Mister Hercules and Jay Cross are joined by trainer Jeremy Jones following his 1:59.4 win at the Fayette County Fairgrounds Monday, July 31 on the ISFC.
The field of six rounded the turn for the start of the fourth race of the day with Mister Hercules and a driver change to Jay Cross starting on the second tier. Just before the gate began to pick up speed, Six Champion went off stride and got tangled up with Mister Hercules that resulted in a recall.
The field lined up again for the start and got away successfully with Packedwithluck and Mike Peterson shooting out for the lead from post one followed by Dr’s Yankees and Brad Ferguson, who slid into the two hole. Mister Hercules was sitting in third through the first quarter in :29.4.
Midway through the second turn, Cross pulled Mister Hercules to the outside and rallied up to challenge Packedwithluck at the half in 1:00.2. Track Announcer Rick Uppal noted the two were in a “ding dong battle” for the lead and were bridle to bridle heading down the backstretch the final time. Mister Hercules finally got the best of Packedwithluck and crossed over to the lead into the final turn. Leading by two lengths, Mister Hercules and Packedwithluck were lengths ahead of the rest of the field with Mister Hercules pacing home for the win in 1:59.4. Packedwithluck was second with Dr’s Yankees finishing third.
Mister Hercules now has back-to-back wins on the Indiana Sired Fair Circuit (ISFC). The Let’s Drink On It colt is owned by Chad Bell of Mississippi and trained by Jeremy Jones. Alvin Schwartz bred the colt, who is now four for eight this season. His career best time of 1:57.0 was taken at Goshen at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in his previous start. He has only finished out of the top three one time in his young career. Mister Hercules is the point leader in the two-year-old colt and gelding pacing division of the ISFC heading into next week’s Governor’s Cup Championships at the Indiana State Fair.
Mister Hercules was the only foal by Let’s Drink On It sold at public auction last fall, bringing $4,500 at the Northern Indiana Yearling Speed Sale. The sire, a son of Art Official, raced for the Seekman Stable before becoming a stallion in Indiana. Mister Hercules is part of his second crop of limited foals and sold under the name Vel Joe. Overall, Let’s Drink On It has nine total starters with six taking marks under 2:00. He only has 20 registered foals, including five that are not of racing age yet.
The top filly in the two-year-old pacing ranks was a winner once again as Classic Amy and Don Cincebox won their division of the ISFC at Connersville. Taking over at the quarter in :32.1, the Riggins filly led the field to a win, turning in a final panel of :29.3 for the victory by one and one-quarter length over Brookview Easy and Michael Detweiler. Vel I’m a Winner and Clint Coy finished third
Classic Amy is owned by Linville Racing Stable and trained by Scott Linville. Willie Schwartz bred the talented filly, who is now seven for 10 this season. Her career best time was taken in early July at Portland in 2:01.0.
Like Mister Hercules, Classic Amy is part of a very limited crop by Riggins and only one of seven sold at public auction last year. She also sold at the Northern Indiana Yearling Speed Sale for $3,250.