Two-year-old pacers will once again be the focus of the Friday night card at Hoosier Park
. The entire eight-race abbreviated program includes four divisions of the Abercrombie series for freshman colts and geldings and four divisions of the Sandra Lil series for freshman fillies.
First round winner T R Kilowatt Sam and driver Ricky Macomber will kick things off in the first race of the Abercrombie series. The two-year-old son of Kilowatt used a late rush on the outside in his racing debut to grab the win by a nose over Be Pacific and Chip Noble in a time of 1:57.1. T R Kilowatt Sam will begin from post three as the 3-1 morning line favourite for his second start in the Abercrombie series.
Also returning as a first round winner is another Burke-trained entry Babes I Scoot in race three. The I Scoot Hanover colt was a solid winner by five lengths for Macomber in his division in a time of 1:57.1. He starts from post four also as the morning line favourite in the race that also includes first round winner Rustles Chip and Don Eash from post eight.
The final round of the Abercrombie series features undefeated star Next Flight In and driver Peter Wrenn. Starting from post four, the Panspacificflight colt has the quickest win thus far of all entrants in the Abercrombie series, winning last week in a time of 1:55.4. Trained by Erv Miller, Next Flight In is the solid morning line favourite at odds of 2-1.
Fillies will be in the mix as well for the Friday card in four divisions of the $15,000 Sandra Lil series. First divisional winners GD Collette and Trace Tetrick will square off with Misschipbyart and Mark Graber, also winners in the first round. GD Collette won her division in a time of 1:59.2 while Misschipbyart won in a time of 1:58.2. Trained by Jacob Graber, Misschipbyart starts from post three while the Tom Simmons-trained GD Collette begins from post two as the slight favourite at odds of 5-2.
Tetrick is also behind the favourite in the final race of the day as Fritas Band returns seeking a second win in the Abercrombie. The Mattnamaras Band filly was the quickest to the wire last week, winning her division in 1:57. Trained by Steve Carter, Fritas Band starts from post six.
The top money-earning entrants for both the Abercrombie and the Sandra Lil will return Friday, July 15 for the $30,000 finals. The evening will lead into the final night of racing Saturday, July 16 in which purses will exceed $1.2 million. Indiana Sires Stakes finals will be contested along with additional promotions and giveaways to close out the 2011 harness racing season.
(Hoosier Park)