Freshman pacing fillies kicked off the second half of their Indiana Sire Stakes schedule on the Thursday (Aug. 31) card at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. Two divisions of the fourth leg of Indiana Sire Stakes for the pacing fillies highlighted the 14-race card on the night, with both De Long family homebreds delivering in their respective divisions.
Lets Go Endofaera kicked off the stakes action in the $67,500 first division, powering to victory from off the pace with a lifetime best performance. Leaving from post six in the field of seven, driver John De Long was able to steer Lets Go Endofaera into the fourth position as Ponda Superb and LeWayne Miller cut a hot opening quarter of :26.3. The fillies remained in straight alignment up the backstretch as Ponda Superb laid down a :55.1 first half up front. Pressure came to Ponda Superb on the far turn as Specialandiknowit and Jordan Ross led the charge first-over with Lets Go Endofaera in tow as Ponda Superb was first to three-quarters in 1:24.2.
As the fillies turned for home, Specialandiknowit took command at the top of the lane in search of the 14-1 upset with Lets Go Endofaera in hot pursuit of the leader. Lets Go Endofaera ripped off cover with a :26.3 final quarter to gain advantage late in the lane and take the victory by just over a length in 1:51.4. Specialandiknowit held gamely for second, Flirtin Fanera and Ricky Macomber Jr. rallied for third. Lets Go Endofaera paid $3.60 for the win.
Trained by Tabby De Long, Lets Go Endofaera picked up her third victory in six tries in 2023 and pushed her career bankroll to $108,190 with the win. Bred by Jesse De Long, who co-owns the filly along with John and William C De Long, Lets Go Endofaera is a daughter of JK Endofanera out of the Cole Muffler mare, Lets Go Higher.
Entering the night with a four-race win streak on the line, Teelatini continued her winning ways in the $67,000 second division. Starting from post four in the six-horse field, driver Pete Wrenn nestled Teelatini into third in the opening stages of the mile as second choice All JK and Trace Tetrick took the field to the opening quarter in :28.1. Tetrick tapped the brakes as the fillies made their way up the backstretch, reaching the half in :57.2 as All JK continued to have things her way on the lead. All JK hit the accelerator on the far turn, where she put two lengths on pocket-sitter Lyin Eyes and Joey Putnam on her way to three-quarters in 1:25:3 as Teelatini stalked the pace from third.
At the top of the stretch, Lyin Eyes and Teelatini quickly closed the gap on All JK to make it a three-across sprint to the finish. All JK proved tough on the lead, however, Teelatini thundered home in :26.3 to nail All JK by a quarter-length on the line to score the 1:52.4 victory. Lyin Eyes and Putnam rounded out the trifecta between fillies. Teelatini returned $3.40 to her backers at the windows.
The win was the fifth in six lifetime starts for the Roger Welch trainee, who is yet to finish worse than second in her young career. The victory pushed Teelatini’s career bankroll to $183,848 for owners William C. and William P. De Long, who also bred the daughter of Rockin Image-Nightcap.
Racing action continues at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Friday, Sept. 1 with a 14-race card featuring two divisions of Indiana Sire Stakes for two-year-old pacing colts. Bettors will also have a host of guaranteed pools to jump into on the Friday night card, with a $7,500 Early Pick 5 ($2,048.71 carryover) in races one through five, a $30,000 Early Pick 4 ($9,206.38 carryover) in races three through six to go along with the traditional $10,000 guaranteed Hoosier High Five in the finale. The Friday night card gets underway with a first post of 6:15 p.m.
(With files from Harrah's Hoosier Park)