Mister Pollard, Cactus Joe win statebred stakes

Mister Pollard and Cactus Joe were solid Indiana-bred 3-year-old stakes horses at this time last year, but the pair had combined to win just one of 12 starts during their 4-year-old seasons. Both came suddenly back into form, however, in stakes races on Wednesday at Indiana Grand.

A decent-sized segment of bettors anticipated Cactus Joe’s turnaround; she won the 89,700 Merrillville Stakes for Indiana-bred older fillies and mares at 3-1, closing from last of 10 with a five-wide flourish that carried her three-quarters of a length past runner-up Joyous Lady.

Cactus Joe at least had won one of five starts this year, but Mister Pollard had a 0-0-0 record from seven races in 2015 before he upset the $89,700 Brickyard at 19-1. Mister Pollard hadn’t been on his best game since May 1, but trainer Mike Lauer turned him back from a route to a sprint and switched surfaces, going turf to dirt, and got a sharp performance from Mister Pollard, who showed surprising speed under Ricardo Santana and beat 40-1 shot Bourne Free by 2 1/2 lengths.

Cactus Joe, trained and co-owned by Randy Matthews and ridden by Cisco Torres, paid $8.80 and was timed in 1:11.78 over a drying-out track that started the card rated muddy. The favored Comforter finished third, but second choice Irish Nuggets broke down badly on the far turn, pitching jockey Julio Felix to the ground. Felix escaped injury, but Irish Nuggets, gravely injured, was euthanized on the track.

Mister Pollard ran much faster than the filly, stopping the timer in 1:10.12 for six furlongs, and paid $40 while topping a $1,065 exacta for $2. The favored I Like Beer finished a distant third.

There were four 2-year-old stakes on the card, and the more heavily restricted pair of them, open to Indiana-sired juvenile colts and fillies, respectively, produced faster times. Odds-on favorites won the sire stakes, with Easy Victory capturing the fillies division by 6 1/2 lengths, running six furlongs in 1:11.50, and Derby Express, dropping from open stakes competition, winning the colts-and-geldings division by 7 1/2 lengths, getting his six furlongs in 1:11.54. Fernando de la Cruz rode Easy Victory for trainer Stephen Fosdick; Malcolm Franklin was on Derby Express for trainer Jeff Greenhill.

Brother’s Dryden was the odds-on favorite to win the Hillside Stakes, but after a protracted front-end tug-of-war, he had no spark left to fight a sustained bid from Justice For Themob, who ran out to a 1 1/4-length win with Torres up for trainer Gary Patrick. The gray gelding paid $14 and was timed in 1:12.30 for six furlongs.

Finally, 9-5 favorite Special Talent stalked the pace and ran on to a 3 1/2-length win in the $87,950 Anderson Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. Malcolm Franklin rode and Barbara McBride trains Special Talent, who paid $5.80 to win and went six furlongs in 1:13.29.

Torres’s two wins on the card pushed him closer to the 3,000-win milestone, and the veteran jockey from Chicago ended the day with 2,997 career victories.