Son of a Nut, Nevertoomanykisses get stakes wins

Son of a Nut cracked open the $89,450 Sagamore Sired Stakes with a burst of speed at the top of the short Indiana Grand homestretch and went on to a seven-length victory in the stakes for 3-year-olds by sires who stand in Illinois.

Son of a Nut, bred by Greenhill Racing, owned by Sherri Greenhill, and trained by Jeff Greenhill, ran his record to three wins from three starts with the dominant victory. A gelding by Unbridled Express, Son of a Nut didn’t make his first start until April, but after a maiden win first out and a half-length score over first-level Indiana-bred allowance foes in his second race, he took a significant forward step Wednesday.

Dashing to a narrow lead under Albin Jimenez, Son of a Nut set a fast, contested pace of 22.03 and 45.05 seconds but still burst into the clear after straightening for home, taking a big lead to the stretch call and running alone to the finish. He was timed in 1:10.06 for six furlongs on a fast track and paid $9.20 to win. Lucky Newton finished second, three-quarters of a length in front of Aye Skipper. Topara, the 5-2 favorite, never got involved and checked in seventh.

In the Sagamore Sired’s sister race , the $88,350 Swiftly Sired, the favored Nevertoomanykisses and jockey Oriana Rossi had to work harder to win.

Leading through a half-mile in 45.44 seconds after breaking alertly from a favorable outside draw, she was challenged at the head of the homestretch by Spooled, but Nevertoomanykisses would not relinquish her lead, holding off Spooled by a neck, with Hay Little Bit another length back in third.

Trained by Tim Glyshaw for owner-breeder Deann Baer, Nevertoomanykisses, a daughter of Checklist, paid $5.40, was timed in 1:10.82 for six furlongs, and won for the fourth time in seven starts.