Shirley Goodness was dominant in her performance for the $16,000 final of the Social Distancing Series at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Tuesday, Aug. 18. The event showcased two-year-old trotting fillies that are Indiana sired.
Shirley Goodness and Trace Tetrick swept the Social Distancing Series with a win in the final Tuesday, Aug. 18. Photo by Dean Gillette
The favorite of the field, Shirley Goodness and Trace Tetrick left the gate quickly from post three and fended off Cindy the Great and John DeLong at the first quarter in 29.3, putting the challenger to their backs. From there, it was a dominant showing from the Swan for All filly, who kept the tempo even until the stretch.
In the stretch, Shirley Goodness began to open up on the field, trotting home in :27.1 for the win in 1:57.0, four and one-quarter lengths ahead of Cindy the Great. Heres Devotion and Doug Rideout finished third.
Shirley Goodness is trained by Melanie Wrenn and owned by Brad Maxwell, Kenneth Frieder and Bill Beechy. Alan and Larry Troyer bred the freshman, who swept the preliminary and final round of the series. She now has $12,000 in earnings in only three career starts for her connections, who purchased her for $22,000 out of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale last fall.
Earlier in the card Tuesday, another Indiana sired horse turned in an impressive mile. Royal Rocks, a full brother to Little Rocket Man, sat in the two-hole for Trace Tetrick before pulling out and traveling home in :26.2 for the win. The Rockin Image gelding was a length and a half winner over Candys Image Rocks and Michael Oosting with Townline Flight and John DeLong finishing third. The time of the mile was 1:52.1.
Trained by Missy Essig, Royal Rocks is owned by Essig Racing LLC, Russ Beeman and Charles Weaver. The Victory Hill Farm Inc. bred sophomore paid $15.00 for the win. The mile was a new lifetime mark for the lightly raced Royal Rocks last year at two.