Giveittoemstaight and Lemoyne “Mooney” Svendsen endured extreme weather conditions to take top honours in the $23,000 Fillies and Mares Invitational Pace Friday, May 7 at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino
. The duo slid up the inside over the rain-soaked track to win the mile in a time of 1:53.4.
Starting from the center of the pack, Svendsen was able to slide Giveittoemstaight into the garden spot behind race leader Ms Rush and Elliott Deaton at the start. Their journey never changed as they followed the top pair around the track in fractions of :26.4, :56.2, and 1:25.2. As the pace quickened, so did the rain and wind, making conditions tough to decode. Svendsen kept Giveittoemstaight on the back of the leader, but was buried by competition to his outside with nowhere to go.
In the stretch, Ms Rush drifted out and gave Svendsen a split second to go for the hole. Giveittoemstaight pressed through and emerged as the leader in the final strides, winning the event by one length over Ms Rush. Ultimate Velocity and trainer-driver Trent Stohler made their customary move from behind to rallied up hard for third.
“Around the final turn, we were about to drown the rain was coming down so hard,” said Svendsen. “I think Elliott’s mare [Ms Rush] was blown off the rail by the wind in the stretch. That was my only shot because we were buried in by horses. As soon as I saw that opening, she [Giveittoemstaight] went through. I never even had to urge her on.”
Giveittoemstaight is owned by Barbara and Donald Arnstine and Gilberto Garcia-Herrera, all of California. Bernie Wolin trains the five-year-old mare by Blissful Hall. She now has nine career wins and a total of nearly $80,000 in career earnings. The victory was her first at Hoosier Park this season. She paid $30.40 to win as one of the longshots of the 10-horse field.
“She [Giveittoemstaight] raced awfully good tonight,” said Svendsen. “In fact, she was completely awesome. I can’t believe she turned in that mile in those conditions.”
In other news, Miss Bogy and Peter Wrenn trudged through the mud to earn the victory in the $25,000 final of the Mini Series for three-year-old fillies. The Bruce Walls-trained daughter of Hiss Mattjesty dug in gamely to get the win in the last step over Townline Kenya and Sam Widger in a time of 1:56.2. Dark Alley Sally and Todd Jones were close for third.
Miss Bogy was claimed for $2,500 last year at Prairie Meadows by owners Mike Wamsley, Janie Hartley, and Paula Walls. She now has four wins in seven starts for 2010 and increased her career bankroll to more than $50,000 in the process.
Between Dillander and Wrenn, the two mud-covered drivers won seven of the 13 races on the program. Dillander, who recorded a driving triple the night before on Thursday, May 6, earned three wins while Wrenn, Hoosier Park’s leading driver, earned four on the night. Wrenn leads the race for leading driver with 72 wins through the first 31 nights of racing. Ricky Macomber is in second place with 32 wins.
(Hoosier Park)