Corningstone turns tables on Hot Little Thing in Miss Indiana Stakes

Odds-on favorite Hot Little Thing was a dud, surprisingly strong favorite Climber lived up to her price, tepid favorite King Ice took care of business, and, capping the action, 2-1 favorite Nobody Listens was reeled in by third-favorite Max Express in four Indiana-bred stakes races Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

The quartet of stakes spanned races 6-9 and were all dirt routes, a pair for 2-year-olds and two for older horses, the sexes split in both age sets.

Hot Little Thing was the shortest price in the sequence, going off at 3-10 in the $103,000 Miss Indiana for 2-year-old fillies, but her first try in a route showed Hot Little Thing to very much be a sprinter.

In hand and on a clear lead with a quarter-mile to race, Hot Little Thing was done at the three-sixteenths pole. By then, Corningstone, second by 14 3/4 lengths to Hot Little Thing on Sept. 7 in the Back Home Again Stakes over six furlongs, had found her best stride. She winged past Hot Little Thing before the furlong grounds and drew clear to a 4 1/4-length victory over Bluelightspecial, who chased the pace and appeared to be a spent force at the quarter pole. Hot Little Thing did manage to hold on for third – barely.

Kenny McPeek trains Corningstone for Five Fillies Stable and Reed Ringler. Coming off turf routes at Saratoga, Corningstone, a daughter of Kantharos and Ice Women, by Street Sense, wasn’t sharp enough for the shorter Back Home Again last month, but she was best by a considerable margin returning to a two-turn contest Wednesday. Corningstone, bred by Deann Baer and Greg Baer, ran one mile and 70 yards in 1:42.40 and paid $14.80.

A race later, Climber showed she’s not only the best Indiana-bred 3-year-old filly dirt route horse going, but the best Indiana-bred dirt-route filly, period. Carrying 124 pounds, which meant she gave weight to some accomplished older rivals, Climber sat a perfect stalking trip, overwhelmed the pacesetters in upper stretch, and comfortably held clear outside-closing Bumble of Love to capture the $150,000 Cardinal Stakes by two lengths.

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Climber, by Diving Rod out of Gazeley, by First Defence, was ridden by Manny Esquivel for trainer Genaro Garcia and owners Southwest Racing Stable and Bruce Murphy. Hapless as a 2-year-old of 2021, Climber added the rich Cardinal to wins earlier this year in the $200,000 First Lady and $102,000 Hoosier Breeders’ Sophomore, both age-restricted dirt routes. Bred by Dawn Martin, Climber ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.67 and paid $5.

The betting public wound up favoring the right horse, King Ice, who paid $7 winning the $103,675 Indiana Futurity. King Ice, who’d faced open competition on turf in his first two starts, was coming off a maiden dirt-route win over Indiana-breds where he’d rallied into a slow pace. But even with more speed in front of him Wednesday, King Ice didn’t run especially fast, his winning time of 1:43.94 for one mile and 70 yards much slower than the 1:42.40 that Corningstone had put up two races earlier in the Miss Indiana.

Deshawn Parker helped King Ice’s cause, taking inside passage around the turn as his mount rallied from the rear of a 12-horse field into a 48.26-second half-mile split. Only after turning for home did Parker leave the fence, popping outside the last bunch of horses in front of him, King Ice willingly running to a 1 3/4-length victory. Win Me Over, a 55-1 shot, stalked the pace and was up for second by 2 1/2 lengths over 55-1 pacesetter Dealer.

George Leonard trains King Ice for his breeders, LTB Inc and Hillerich Racing. King Ice, a colt, is by Keen Ice out of Express Run, by Unbridled Express.

Max Express capped off an all-stakes pick four sequence that paid $280.15 per 50-cent bet, a $10.80 winner just shy of second choice but clearly best on the day in the $150,000 To Much Coffee.

Third in this race two years ago and sixth in the 2021 To Much Coffee, Max Express got a patient ride from Geovanni Franco, reeling in the pacesetting favorite Nobody Listens in midstretch and drawing away to win by 1 3/4 lengths.

Max Express is running basically the same Beyer Speed Figures he was a year ago, but suddenly is winning stake races. In September, he won the Empire, his 44th start and first stakes win, and the lucrative To Much Coffee made it two in a row for this 6-year-old, Michael Lauer-trained homebred.

Bred by Michael and Penny Lauer, and owned by Penny Lauer, Timothy Clary, and Falcon Racing Stable, Max Express is by longtime Indiana stallion Unbridled Express out of Mor Trust, by Trust N Luck. The gelding didn’t hit his top level until last year at age 5, but Max Express has held his peak for about 16 months now. He raced from ninth around the first turn as Franco saved ground all the way, the pair creeping into contention before the half-mile pole as Franco waited for stamina-challenged leader Nobody Listens to come back to him. That process began past the eighth pole, and with a half-furlong remaining, the outcome was clear – the favorite was not winning.

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