Harrah's Hoosier Park: Massive effort by Maximus Miki in Pacing Derby

Maximus Miki was sent three-wide in the backstretch, made the lead past the half and held off pursuers in the lane for a remarkable 1:47 4/5 victory in the $179,500 Hoosier Park Pacing Derby on Friday night at the Anderson, Indiana, seven-eighths-mile oval.

Coming off a win in the Canadian Pacing Derby final, Maximus Miki (Scott Zeron) was eighth and on the outside at the 25 4/5 quarter that was registered by Ruthless Hanover (Andy McCarthy). Little Rocket Man (Mike Oosting), the defending champion of the race, then took the lead, but Zeron had Maximus Miki on a wide march while that was going on up front, and he wrestled the top spot away from Little Rocket Man beyond the 54 second half-mile station.

With Muskateer Hanover (Tony Hall) parked and clogging the outer tier, Maximus Miki remained clear to three-quarters in 1:20 4/5, but Little Rocket Man had dead-aim to the outside down the lengthy Harrah's Hoosier Park stretch, and Buzzsaw Russ (Dexter Dunn) was also in full flight on the inside from near the back of the pack. Maximus Miki wouldn't be denied, though, staving off both of those bids to prevail by a quarter of a length in 1:47 4/5. Little Rocket Man, Buzzsaw Russ, Ruthless Hanover and Ken Hanover (David Miller) rounded out the top five.

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"Tom told me to sit three-wide until I made front at the five-eighths pole and keep going," Zeron joked about the pre-race instructions from trainer Tom Cancelliere. "It wasn't a good thought process. At the quarter-pole we were all a little bunched up there in the middle of the pack or maybe further back than the middle. I found myself three-wide when we turned up the backside with honestly no options but to go forward. I trusted that this horse could carry his speed.

"It was a really, really long stretch but honestly he didn't fatigue that bad. To go 26 4/5 in the last turn and still maintain 27 flat, it was a humongous effort. I'm certainly a big fan."

Owned by John Cancelliere, Maximus Miki is a 6-year-old Always B Miki gelding. Bred by Sergent Stables LLC., Maximus Miki has a summary of 26-15-10 from 58 starts, has earned $782,197 and paid $9.60 to win.

"We're very lucky, very blessed right now," said Tom Cancelliere, who was first and fourth in the event. "We spend a lot of time with them."