Yourwishisgranted fended off a lot of opponents to score the win in the Open Pace Friday, June 9 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. The race was named in honor of a special person, The Jane Lasater Memorial, with a purse of $22,000.
Yourwishisgranted and Ricky Macomber Jr. fend off challengers at the wire for the win in the Open Pace Friday, June 9 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Photo by Dean Gillette
Yourwishisgranted and Driver Ricky Macomber Jr. started from post four and got away second as Primary Colors and Brandon Bates moved to the lead. The first fraction of :26.2 was posted on the board with Primary Colors still leading the way to the half in :54.4. Big Gulp and Michael Oosting were the first to pull to the outside and led the outer flow of traffic to the stretch.
In the stretch, Yourwishisgranted moved to the inside to challenge while Sure Thing Herman and Atlee Bender were on the outside gaining ground. Yourwishisgranted paced home in :26.2 to get the win by a half length over Sure Thing Herman. Primary Colors finished third. Less than three lengths separated the entire field at the wire.
Yourwishisgranted was the second longest shot on the board, paying $59.60 for the win. The four-year-old JK Endofanera gelding is owned by Ruby Huggins and trained by Matt Rheinheimer. Victory Hill Farm bred the gelding, who earned his fifth win of the year. His latest mile also marked a new career best of 1:49.3. Overall, he has 10 career wins with more than $226,000 on his card.
In the very next race, another sub 1:50 race was turned in as Buzzsaw Russ and John DeLong stopped the timer in 1:49.2. Buzzsaw Russ got away second with Always Floating and Jordan Ross grabbing the early lead and posting the first fraction of :27.0 before being overtaken by Art It Is and Brandon Bates before the half in :55.3. Buzzsaw Russ became the third leader of the race before the three-quarters in 1:22.4 and went to work. The Rockin Image sophomore kicked into another gear and drove away from his opponents, winning by seven lengths with a final quarter in :26.3. Henry the Horse and Kyle Wilfong closed in gamely for second over Always Floating, who maintained ground for third.
Buzzsaw Russ was the favorite, paying $3.20 for the win. He is owned by Russ Beeman and Charles Weaver. Missy Essig trains the Devon Beechy and Devon Knepp bred gelding. It was the first win of the season for Buzzsaw Russ. Overall, he is five for 12 and has more than $250,000 on his card. His win Friday also marks a new career best.