For 30 years Cipriano Contreras worked with horses in Chicago, almost all of them as an assistant to trainer Mike Reavis. In 2016, with Chicago racing opportunities and purses shrinking, and Reavis’s operation contracting along with them, Contreras made two moves: He went out on his own, and he went to Indiana. The transition has gone remarkably well. Conteras won 18 races last season at Indiana Grand, and his 23rd winner this season came in the $104,850 William Henry Harrison Stakes, where Supreme Justice got home one length in front of Double Tuff. Supreme Justice won his sixth race in a row – all this summer at Indiana Grand – and earned his connections a $61,023 share of the purse to go with the $50,000 or so he has earned since being claimed for a mere $6,250 on March 12 at Tampa Bay Downs. It was Reavis, in fact, who claimed Supreme Justice. “Mike and I just kind of parted ways, but we’re still the best of friends,” Contreras said earlier this summer. “I had to do something. It was time for me to hit the road.” Supreme Justice is owned by Acclaimed Racing Stable and the Gumpster Stable, and has been a home run of a low-level claim. All his previous wins this meet had come in starter-allowance competition, but the last three had been by wide margins, and Supreme Justice was ready to tackle a group that was pretty tough for a race restricted to Indiana-sired horses. Stalking outside under Marcelino Pedroza, who won five of the day’s eight Thoroughbred races, Surpreme Justice came wide in the stretch, pushed past Double Tuff just to his inside, and went clear past the eighth pole. Double Tuff finished well after extricating himself from tight quarters, but an inquiry and jockey’s objection from Double Tuff’s rider, Leandro Goncalvez, against Supreme Justice, were quickly dismissed. Double Tuff’s problems were caused by not being able to go with Supreme Justice past the three-sixteenths pole, then getting impeded by the fading pace-setter Zoned In, who wound up third, a half-length behind Double Tuff and a half-length in front of a second Contreras-trained horse, Operation Stevie. Supreme Justice, rallying into a fast 44.88-second half-mile split, ran six furlongs in 1:09.85 and paid $8.20 to win. The 5-year-old gelding is by Lantana Mob and out of Miss Miracle, by A.P. Jet. After winning once in 12 starts during 2016, Supreme Justice is 9-0-1 from 12 races this year. As the winner crossed the line, Success Is Racing, a 7-year-old gelding who won this race last year and has earned more than a half-million dollars, was pulled up lame in upper stretch and vanned off the track. Joyous Lady repeats in Shelby County It was another August celebration for the connections of Joyous Lady, who captured the $103,900 Shelby County Stakes for the second year in a row. Trainer Randy Klopp, who owns Joyous Lady with his fellow co-breeder Dennis Claramunt, sat chilly with Joyous Lady after she won an open second-level allowance race on July 1 at Indiana Grand. There were no local races, Klopp said, that fit the mare, and rather than ship to run, Klopp kept her fresh for another go at the Shelby County, which offers a bountiful purse for a race restricted to Indiana-sired females. Teacup Twirl was scratched and Peyton’s Pass broke slowly, which left the pace to Carmalley Chrome, who set moderate splits for the course and six-furlong distance of 22.35 and 45.40. Tom Pompell, Joyous Lady's longtime rider, stalked the leader from third while three wide around the turn, and had to use his mount sooner than he had hoped. “They were coming on the outside,” Pompell said. “I kind of had to use her a little bit early.” It didn’t matter. Joyous Lady had a half-length lead at the stretch call and widened her advantage from there, winning by 1 1/2 lengths as Hay Little Bit came late to nip 2-5 favorite She Mabee Wild, who needs more distance for her best, to earn the place. Joyous Lady was timed in 1:10.65 for six furlongs on a fast track. “I thought Tommy rode her perfect,” said Klopp. “She’s hard to get along with.” But worth the trouble. Joyous Lady, by Kela out of D’Aroak, by Roanoke, won for the eighth time in 24 starts and is closing on $400,000 in career earnings.