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Freshman daughter of world champion mare wins

A couple of Indiana veterans turned in wins during the Father’s Day card at Vernon Downs Sunday, June 21. HC Commander dug in gamely in the stretch to win by open lengths in the $4,000 conditioned pace in a time of 1:56.4. HC Commander and Truman Gale, nicknamed the Night Train, took control of the field from the start, sprinting to the top spot from the middle of the track, but his time on the lead was short lived. Sunuma Beach and Claude Huckabone III were out and moving before the first turn arrived and slid over to the top spot in the first turn followed swiftly by race favorite Keg Party and Chris Long, who were the third leaders at the quarter in :28.0. The tempo kept everyone in single file to the half in :57.4 before horses began to move to the outside. Gale looked over his shoulder and saw the outer flow forming from the back led by Ourrhythmnblues N and John MacDonald. That was the que for HC Commander to get out and moving heading into he final turn. HC Commander powered up to challenge Keg Party and got a half ahead in the final turn but could not clear to the lead as Keg Party fought back along the inside. In the lane, HC Commander took back over and rallied home to a two-length advantage at the wire over Keg Party. Choreographer and Frank Affrunti moved up the inside to finish third. HC Commander paid $6.42 for the win. The seven-year-old son of Always a Virgin is owned by Adam Friedland and was bred by Herman Miller. Gary Gibson trains the gelding, who earned his 17 th career win from 159 starts. Overall, he just surpassed the $200,000 mark in earnings with his career best time of 1:50.4 taken at Scioto Downs as a four-year-old. HC Commander began his career in Indiana in the Henry Graber Jr. barn before eventually making his way to Ohio and then further East. In the very next race, Gorgeous View and Jimmy Whittemore rallied gate to wire to win the optional claiming event in a time of 1:56.1. The 12-year-old son of He’s Gorgeous was four lengths ahead of Get Back to Work and Truman Gale and Major Steel and Frank Affrunti, who finished second and third, respectively. Gorgeous View is owned and trained by Kenneth Dawson. Alvin Schwartz bre and raised the veteran gelding, who earned his first win of 2026. Overall, he has 38 wins from 322 starts and more than $288,000 in earnings. Gorgeous View began his training at the Illinois State Fair under the direction of Tom Simmons. He took his career best time of 1:51.0 at Northfield Park.

Photo by Dean Gillette Watch Miss Tucky and Brad Ferguson gave fans something to watch Saturday, June 20. With a herd of horses heading to the wire, the Indiana trotter gained the advantage late to win the $18,000 Open 2-3 Handicap at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. With the rail horse scratched, Watch Miss Tucky slid over to the inside starting spot and left the gate with a little speed, but not enough to get a top spot. Calculated Concept and John DeLong to her outside had early speed and it appeared she would get away fourth but she was shuffled back as race favorite Operator and Marcus Miller got in the hole right in front of her before the quarter in :26.4. Finite and Trace Tetrick led the way to the half in :56.2. That’s when Operator and Watch Miss Tucky both moved to the outside. The field was tightly packed around the final turn with four in and three out. Watch Miss Tucky was getting a perfect second over journey to the head of the lane. She tipped to the outside and dug in gamely to get by the top ones. CS Flying Co-Pilot and Jordan Ross were stuck in behind horses and finally got room late to move up the inside. But Watch Miss Tucky had good momentum, getting the edge by three-quarters at the wire in 1:54.0. CS Flying Co-Pilot was second, just a nose ahead of ER Kelly and LeWayne Miller in the three-way photo. Less than three lengths separated the entire field at the wire. Watch Miss Tucky and ER Kelly were the longest shots on the board in the race, paying out some big prices for the exotics in the race. Watch Miss Tucky paid $30.20 for the win while ER Kelly paid $11.20 for show. Watch Miss Tucky is owned by Neil Coleman and Lloyd Schneiderman. Coleman trains the five-year-old daughter of Pinetucky, who was bred by Black Creek Farm. That’s four wins in nine starts for Watch Miss Tucky this season. Overall, she has 12 wins and more than $129,000 in earnings. She took her career best time of 1:53.1 earlier in June at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Switching gaits to the pace, Goo Goo Won and Kyle Wilfong were winners in the evening’s featured $22,000 Filles and Mares Open Pace. The seven-year-old daughter of Fred and Ginger sat in the two hole before finding room in the lane and scoring the win by a neck over Wild Rosa and Brandon Bates. Can’ttouchthese and John DeLong finished third in the 1:50.2 mile. Goo Goo Won paid $13.40 for the win. She is a homebred owned by breeder Judy Taylor, with her son, Howard, also one of the breeders on the mare from the family’s sire Fred and Ginger. It was win number 28 for Goo Goo Won, who is closing in on a half million in career earnings. She is a member of the sub 1:50 club, taking her 1:49.4 mark last season at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.

Photo by Dean Gillette General Dolan and Trace Tetrick teamed up once again to do what they have done dozens of times before. The duo rallied home winners in the upper conditioned pace Friday, June 19 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Beginning from post one, General Dolan held his position along the inside as Play Action Pass and John DeLong shot out from behind the gate in the center of the track to take the top spot before the first turn arrived, giving General Dolan the garden spot to the quarter in :27.2. Round Here Buzz and Atlee Bender also left and chose the three hole as the field all settled into place heading to the half. American Classic and Marcus Miller tipped out first over from the back and began inching up toward the leaders, but the top three led by Play Action Pass had several lengths on the remainder of the field. Around the final turn, American Classic was getting closer but not enough to flush General Dolan or Round Here Buzz to the outside. In the stretch, General Dolan finally tipped off the back of Play Action Pass and Round Here Buzz followed his lead, also tipping out. It took the majority of the stretch to catch up and pass Play Action Pass but he got the job done, winning by a half length in 1:50.2, a final quarter paced in :26.0. Play Action Pass was nearly three lengths ahead of Round Here Buzz for second. Every horse in the field paced home in under :27 seconds. General Dolan was not favored, paying $12.40 for the win. The 11-year-old son of Rockin Image has been owned by breeders John and Robert Esposito his entire career. Tyler George has had the veteran in his barn the past six years. To date, General Dolan has 60 career wins out of 240 career starts. His career bankroll exceeds $735,000 with his career best time of 1:48.4 taken as a nine-year-old. His latest win is his quickest of 2026 and close to making him a sub 1:50 winner for the fifth time in his career. On the other end of the spectrum, some of the younger performers on the program competed in several divisions of three-year-old action for the Indiana Sired Fair Circuit. Last year’s freshman standout Vel See You Later and Clint Coy turned in a gate to wire effort for a win in the sophomore pacing colts and geldings division in 1:54.2. The Highalator gelding picked up his fourth win of the season and his 10 th overall. Higher Voltage and Marcus Miller finished three and one-half lengths back in second to make it a Highalator double with Vel See You Later’s stablemate Vel Im Good finishing another two lengths back in third with Kevin Lambright in the bike. Vel See You Later paid $4.00 for the win. He is owned by King Racing Stable and Therl Hensley. Larry King trains the sophomore, who was bred and raised at Schwartz Boarding Farm in Berne, Ind. under the direction of Alvin Schwartz.

Photo by Dean Gillette It was a dash for dollars Thursday, June 18 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. The veteran pacer rallied from gate to wire to win the five-eighths mile Dash for Cash in a time of 1:08.1. Southside Kid hustled out of the gate for driver Kyle Wilfong as the gate folded down the backstretch, Acoustic and Cristian Pacheco filed in behind him in second with Baby Be Better and Ronald Burks sitting outside in third through the first quarter in :26.2 for the $5,000 claiming event. Southside Kid continued his front end style through the only turn of the race. At the head of the lane, Baby Be Better was still pressing on the outside of Acoustic but Southside Kid was leading the way by open lengths. A final try by Bold and Brassy and Ross Leonard in the center of the track closed the gap a little on Southside Kid, but he was under wraps by Wilfong under the wire in 1:08.1. Bold and Brassy finished a length and a half back in second over Acoustic along the inside. Southside Kid paid $13.60 for the win. The 11-year-old son of Skydancer hanover is from the Wilfong breeding operation of Lynn, Brett, Candice, and Barbara Wilfong. Ryan Bellamy now owns and trains the old timer, who earned his first win of 2026 and his 19 th overall. Unraced at two and three, Southside Kid took his career best time of 1:51.1 at Scioto Downs as a nine-year-old. He now has more than $180,000 in earnings from 175 career starts. Southside Kid has gone through many ownership changes during his career. The claimer has been with Ryan Bellamy since early March of this year. The Indiana Sired Fair Circuit was back with some divisions for three-year-olds later in the card. Sun Rae’s Triumph and Anthony Miller turned in a gate to wire effort in their three-year-old pacing filly division to score the win in 1:53.3. Dojea Endure and Kevin Detweiler finished three-quarters of a length back in second followed by Midnight Attire and Travis Seekman for third. Sun Rae’s Triumph paid $2.80 for the win. The Best in Show sophomore is owned by Dessa, Zach and Alvin Miller. Zach handles the training duties for the homebred filly, who is out of the family’s tough race mare Pacific Sun Rae, who earned a mark of 1:51.4 and made more than $300,000 during her racing career. It was the fourth win in eight starts for 2026 for Sun Rae’s Triumph. The mile also established a new career best for the filly. The ISFC divisions slated for the Wednesday, June 17 program at Harrah’s Hoosier Park were cancelled due to weather. The Indiana Standardbred Breed Development announced earlier Thursday those races will not be made up and points will be adjusted for the series.

Photo by Dean Gillette This Captain Rocks and Robert Taylor powered over a sloppy track and beat not only the field in the Indiana Sired Fair Circuit, they beat the severe weather that was traveling into Anderson, Ind. The duo was under complete control of the field to remain perfect in the young colt’s career. This Captain Rocks began from post six and rallied out to secure a spot in third as El Speedy Gonzales and Travis Seekman scooted out to the lead, passing by the quarter in :29.1 in the freshman colt and gelding pace. Everyone stayed in single file to the half in :59.3 before This Captain Rocks was out and rolling to the lead. At the head of the lane, This Captain Rocks took over and moved out to an open length advantage. In the end, This Captain Rocks was a winner by three and one-quarter lengths in 1:57.1, pacing home in :27.2. El Speedy Gonzales finished second to make it a Capt Midnight one-two punch with DD Endofanera and LeWayne Miller moving in for third. This Captain Rocks paid $2.80 as the favorite of the field. The freshman colt is owned by Chad Webb of Kentucky and trained by Taylor. He is now three for three to kick off his racing career. The win was his quickest to date. Harrah’s Hoosier Park quickly went into a weather delay due to a plethora of storms that rolled across Indiana with some fierce lightning. It was the beginning of the end of the racing card for the night at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. The only other race for the Indiana Sired Fair Circuit was the first division of freshman pacing colts and geldings with Rockalone and Trace Tetrick earning a near gate to wire win in 1:58.4. The Rockin Image gelding, trained by Tyler George, earned his second win in his third lifetime start. The mile was a new lifetime mark. Ranger Dan and Kyle Wilfong finished one and three-quarters back in second over Its My Era Now and Marcus Miller for third. Rockalone paid $3.00 for the win. He is owned by TG Stable and was bred by Richard Frey.

Rebum earns first career win