Harrah's Hoosier Park: Teelatini keeps streak alive in Indiana Sires Stakes

Two-year-old pacing fillies kicked off the second half of their Indiana Sires Stakes schedule on Thursday at Harrah's Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. Two divisions of the fourth leg highlighted the 14-race program, with both De Long family homebreds delivering in their respective events.

Lets Go Endofaera kicked off the stakes action in the $67,500 first flight, powering to victory from off-the-pace with a lifetime-best performance. Leaving from post six in the field of seven, driver John De Long was able to steer Lets Go Endofaera into the fourth position as Ponda Superb and LeWayne Miller cut a hot opening quarter of 26 3/5. The fillies remained in straight alignment up the backstretch as Ponda Superb laid down a 55 1/5 half. Pressure came to Ponda Superb on the far turn as Specialandiknowit and Jordan Ross led the charge first-over, with Lets Go Endofaera in tow as Ponda Superb was first to three-quarters in 1:24 2/5.

Specialandiknowit took command at the top of the lane in search of the 14-1 upset, with Lets Go Endofaera in hot pursuit of the new leader. Lets Go Endofaera ripped off cover with a 26 3/5 final quarter to gain advantage late in the lane and take the victory by just over a length in 1:51 4/5. Specialandiknowit held gamely for second, while Flirtin Fanera and Ricky Macomber Jr. rallied for third. Lets Go Endofaera paid $3.60 for the win.

Trained by Tabby De Long, Lets Go Endofaera picked up her third victory in six tries in 2023 and pushed her career bankroll to $108,190. Bred by Jesse De Long, who co-owns the filly along with John and William C. De Long, Lets Go Endofaera is a daughter of JK Endofanera and is out of the Cole Muffler mare Let's Go Higher.

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Entering the night with a four-race win streak on the line, Teelatini continued her winning ways in the $67,000 second split. Starting from post four in the six-horse field, driver Pete Wrenn nestled Teelatini into third in the opening stages of the mile as second choice All JK and Trace Tetrick took the field to the opening quarter in 28 1/5. Tetrick tapped the brakes as the fillies made their way up the backstretch, reaching the half in 57 2/5 as All JK continued to have things her way on the lead. All JK hit the accelerator on the far turn, and she put two lengths on pocket-sitter Lyin’ Eyes and Joey Putnam on her way to three-quarters in 1:25 3/5 as Teelatini stalked the pace from third.

At the top of the stretch, Lyin' Eyes and Teelatini quickly closed the gap on All JK to make it a three-across sprint to the finish. All JK proved tough on the lead, but Teelatini thundered home in 26 3/5 to nail All JK by a quarter-length on the line to score the 1:52 4/5 victory. Lyin' Eyes and Putnam rounded out the trifecta between fillies. Teelatini returned $3.40 to her backers at the windows.

The win was the fifth in six lifetime starts for the Roger Welch trainee, who is yet to finish worse than second in her young career. The victory pushed Teelatini's career bankroll to $183,848 for owners William C. and William P. De Long, who also bred the daughter of Rockin Image-Nightcap.

Racing action continues at Harrah's Hoosier Park on Friday, September 1, featuring two sections of Indiana Sires Stakes for 2-year-old pacing colts and geldings among the 14 races on the docket. Bettors will also have a host of guaranteed pools to jump into, with a $7,500 early Pick 5 ($2,048.71 carryover) in races 1-5, a $30,000 early Pick 4 ($9,206.38 carryover) in races 3-6, to go along with the traditional $10,000 guaranteed Hoosier High Five in the finale. The Friday night card gets underway with a first post of 6:15 p.m.

--edited press release (Harrah's Hoosier Park)--