Harrah's Hoosier Park: Indiana Sires Stakes Super Finals kick off

The 2023 Indiana Sires Stakes Super Finals got underway on Thursday night at Harrah's Hoosier Park with the two $250,000 championships for 2-year-old trotters, and sire Muscle Massive won both of them with Musclefantastic and Ponda Title.

In the Super Final for the colts and geldings, Dashing Danny (Kyle Wilfong) blasted to the front from the outside post nine and put up fractions of 27 2/5, 56 3/5 and 1:25 4/5. 1-5 favorite Gruesome Twosome (Daryl Bontrager) went first-up from third on the final bend but couldn't make any headway in the the 29 1/5 third quarter or into the stretch, throwing the race wide-open.

Dashing Danny responded when asked by Wilfong and was able to fend off pocket-sitter Topville Sebastian (Trace Tetrick) to his outside, but trainer-driver Robert Taylor had Musclefantastic rallying in the passing lane after sitting on the pylons in fourth, and behind a 28 4/5 final kicker, Musclefantastic got up to prevail by three-quarters of a length in 1:55 1/5 at odds of 22-1. Dashing Danny was the runner-up, followed by Topville Sebastian, Gruesome Twosome and Flight Number One (John De Long).

"This horse has been great. He's had some ups and downs, some bumps and stuff throughout the year. He showed us some ability earlier this year; he trotted in 54 and piece," said Taylor. "Going into the race I knew there would be some action up front. We had kind of an inside draw, so the best thing to do was try to get the best trip. It looked like I was going to be second-over behind Gruesome Twosome, but he wasn't going forward, so I decided to go back up the passing lane and it worked out perfect for us.

"He is Breeders Crown eligible, so that is an option on our table."

A Muscle Massive colt bred by Perry Bontrager, Musclefantastic is owned by Kyle and Jill Hupfer. He has a summary of 3-1-1 from nine starts, has put away $178,865. He paid $46.60 to win.

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Ponda Title (Wilfong) got the job done as the 3-5 choice in the Super Final for the fillies. She drove on two-wide and hit the front past the 27 3/5 quarter and then backed down the half to 57 3/5 and the three-quarters to 1:27 1/5. In the stretch Skyway Paige (Lewayne Miller) rallied from second-over and Black Gold (James Yoder) had room in the passing lane from the two-hole, but Ponda Title wouldn't be denied, defeating Skyway Paige by a neck. Black Gold ended up third and Swans Morning Song (Ricky Macomber Jr.), who was last at the quarter, finished well to get fourth. Swan So Fine (Jordan Ross) gained from ninth to fifth in the last panel.

"I thought she was the best horse, and the draw didn't concern me. We were where we needed to be, and everything just worked out," remarked Wilfong. "We had a horse on each side. They gave us a good fight, but she likes to poke her nose in front late."

Jay Hochstetler trains Ponda Title, bred by Pond-A-Acres, for owners Connie Hochstetler, Robert Buddig and Allen Schwartz. She has seven wins, three seconds and a third in 11 effort, has banked $483,420 and returned $3.20 to win.

"I think that speaks a lot for the Indiana program. You're able to do that in this state. If you've got a good horse you can go far here," Hochstetler noted about Ponda Title's big bankroll despite never leaving the Hoosier State. "She's been a blessing. She makes the job easy. She doesn't really put a foot wrong. She's a little ambitious on the track, but that's okay. We would rather be more ambitious than lazy.

"She's going to get her shoes pulled. She's going to go down to North Carolina and get a couple of months off. We'll take her down to Pinehurst after that and get her ready for next season."