Harrah's Hoosier Park: Training "M's" seek success on stakes-filled card

Fresh off an impressive victory in the rich Maple Leaf Trot, Lindy The Great will be in search of his second Caesars Trotting Classic Friday night (9/24) at Harrah's Hoosier Park. The 7-year-old drew post 2 in a field of nine going as race 13 on a stakes-filled program.

"We were really happy with the Maple Leaf," said Julie Miller, who trains Lindy The Great. "It was nice to get over the hump."

For the better part of the last few years, Lindy The Great has chased some of the sport's best and finished on the board in major races. A winner of the Caesars in 2019 when trained by Domenico Cecere, Lindy The Great was third in last year's edition behind champions Gimpanzee and Atlanta. Those two will not be in Friday's line-up, but Miller still has concerns about the field as well as the near three-week layoff.

"We brought him down to The Red Mile to get him a good training mile before this race," said Miller. "Unfortunately, with all of the rain we've been having in Lexington, the track was unavailable to train him over."

That said, Lindy The Great "knows the ropes," as Miller would say, and should be ready when the gate opens for the $210,000 contest. The field is solid, with Graduate final champion Ready For Moni (post five) and Maple Leaf runner-up Forbidden Trade (post seven) likely contenders.

Miller hopes Je Suis Si Belle, a juvenile trotting filly, is up for the task in the $200,000 Kentuckiana Stallion Management carded as race two.

"She got sick on us early and took some time to come around," said Miller. "That's why we put her in the Excelsior (New York Sire Stakes second level), and she raced well at Tioga and Vernon."

By Chapter Seven, Je Suis Si Belle drew the rail in the field of six, right next to New York Sire Stakes champion Joviality S and driver Brian Sears.

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"She came out of the race great," said Marcus Melander of Joviality S, who he trains. "It was a tough mile going out of post eight with a 27 first quarter. She handled it well."

Melander's decision to come to Hoosier, as opposed to taking a shot at Saturday's Mohawk Million, wasn't too difficult.

"Last year Courant [owner of Joviality S] paid for a spot in the race, and this year they didn't. This is a good spot for her."

Melander hopes another of his New York Sire Stakes champions - Iteration - will be improved on Friday night when she meets Darlene Hanover in the $115,000 Moni Maker for sophomore trotting fillies. Carded as race four, the Moni Maker drew a field of seven, with Iteration starting from post four and Darlene Hanover post six.

"She's been on the front-end a lot, and she tends to wait on horses," said Melander of Iteration, who held on by a nose in the New York Sire Stakes final at Yonkers on September 10. "I talked to Brian [Sears] before that race, and we really didn't have a choice going to the front from post six."

After that victory, Melander hopes that Sears could utilize different tactics over the seven-eighths-mile Hoosier surface.

"I think she'll be much better, and we won't have to race her on the front," said Melander.

Trainer Julie Miller sends out Argyle (post seven) in the Moni Maker.

"She's a nice filly that we got this summer," said Miller about Argyle, who captured a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes on July 31. "She's good-gaited and has a lot of heart.

"There's some really nice fillies in the field, and we're going to need a trip with this draw."

In the $100,000 Phil Langley Memorial for 3-year-old colts and geldings carded as race nine on the 14-race program, Melander has In Range (post eight).

"I really don't know what happened to him in the Sire Stakes final (seventh-place finish at Pocono on September 4), but he bounced back nicely last week at Woodbine," said Melander. "He got clear late and finished well."

In Range has hit the board in seven of 11 starts this year.

"There's some nice horses inside of him," said Melander, pointing to likely favorite Jujubee, a winner 11 times this year, including his most recent open-lengths score in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship. Jujubee drew the pole position for trainer Greg Wright Jr.

Melander was still excited following the 1:49 3/5 victory by Dancinginthedark M in the $250,000 Kentucky Sires Stakes championship this past Sunday at The Red Mile. The sophomore colt was driven for the first time by Brian Sears who managed to hold him together.

"He was getting a little funny-gaited towards the end," said Melander of Dancinginthedark M, who had miscued in a host of major races this year.

"He's staying at The Red Mile for the next few weeks," Melander said of Dancinginthedark M, who is pointing towards the Kentucky Futurity.

The 15-race Hoosier card gets underway at 6:30 p.m. and offers a $20,000 guaranteed Pick 4 in race 12, a $25,000 guaranteed Superfecta in race 13, and a $15,000 guaranteed Hi-5 in race 15.