Harrah's Hoosier Park: Dandy Ideal impresses in Dan Patch victory
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Dandy Ideal, who won the Hempt, Matron and New York Sire Stakes finals as part of a season that saw him earn over $933,000 a year ago, scored his first stakes victory of 2026 in style, as he was a dominant 1:47 2/5 victor of the $300,000 Grade 1 Dan Patch for older pacing males on Friday night at Harrah's Hoosier Park.
Harrisburg Heist (Yannick Gingras) shot out from the outside post nine to lead at the 25 4/5 quarter, but a shuffling of the deck started past that marker, as Harrisburg Heist was looped by Bythemissal (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.), then Bythemissal gave way to Captain Optimistic (Dexter Dunn), and finally Dandy Ideal (Tyler Buter) became the final leader as he got past Captain Optimistic beyond the 52 3/5 half-mile marker.
From there Dandy Ideal never really had an anxious moment as he was clear from Prince Hal Hanover (Todd McCarthy), who'd been parked all the way and lost cover when Dandy Ideal took charge, and the pocket-sitting Captain Optimistic to three-quarters in 1:20 1/5, and a 27 1/5 final kicker propelled Dandy Ideal to a 3 1/4 length victory. Prince Hal Hanover overcame the wide journey to nose out Captain Optimistic for second, and they were followed by Coach Stefanos (Marcus Miller) and Fallout (Trace Tetrick).
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"We had to be a little bit patient, kind of let it settle down," Buter said. "I was kind of in a spot to try and get somebody in front of me to follow or keep pushing towards the front. I chose to keep going. He felt so good and thank goodness he raced good.
"Like I told them, at the top of the stretch, I didn't really feel too much pressure on the outside or on my back, and I hadn't even pulled his plugs yet. When I asked him to go, he found another gear there late."
A 4-year-old American Ideal gelding, Dandy Ideal is trained by Hunter Oakes for owners Susan Oakes and Alan Johnston. Bred by Dr. Stephen Dey III and Dandy Farms, Dandy Ideal has a summary of 21-6-2 from 36 starts, has earned $1,295,706 and paid $9.60 to win as the 7-2 third choice.
"He was really good. We prepped him exactly how we wanted to," said Oakes, who had raced Dandy Ideal in the top classes at Pocono and Yonkers, plus the #SendItIn Invitational at Scioto prior to his victory in the Dan Patch. "I was really happy with his race Saturday (a 1:49 1/5 win at Pocono). We had to step up, and he steps up to the plate. He makes me look good."