Photo of Late Nite Hawk and Trace Tetrick by Dean Gillette
Late Nite Hawk and Trace Tetrick swooped in during the stretch drive to win the upper conditioned trot Saturday, September 12 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. The veteran trotter turned in a perfect mile to snag the win in 1:52.3, his fifth of 2026.
Late Nite Hawk began from post one and used that to his advantage early, getting the first call out of the gate before being relegated to third with Calculated Concept and John DeLong taking over the top spot and Drink Up Drink Up driven by Brandon Bates setting in the two hole. The first fraction of :27 was placed on the board as Calculated Concept kept up the tempo with Drink Up Drink Up right at his back through the half in :55.1. Late Nite Hawk was gapping by several lengths at the halfway mark before closing the gap.
In the final turn, Niko Man and Kyle Wilfong were making their move first over and flushed out Late Nite Hawk. It took him a few strides to get into gear, but once he was in the stretch, the class factor kicked in. Late Nite Hawk surged to the front to score the win in 1:52.3, one and three-quarters of a length ahead of the rest of the field. Only a half length separated the next four finishers with International Law and Marcus Miller earning second place over Niko Man.
Late Nite Hawk paid $9.20 for the win. The Brett Wilfong trained gelding is owned by Brett Wilfong and Goose Island Stable. Merle Yoder bred the seven-year-old son of Dover Dan, who now has 25 career wins and earnings of nearly $350,000. His career best time of 1:51.1 was taken as a four-year-old at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
While the veteran trotter earned a win, it was a newcomer to take home the lion’s share of the $15,000 Indiana Sires Stakes Eligible event for two-year-olds. Temporals Dream and Brandon Bates turned in a gate to wire effort for the win in 1:56.3, trotting their final quarter in :28.0. Copperstone and John DeLong finished three-quarters of a length back in second over Haven Lane Diezel and Jordan Ross.
Temporals Dream paid $7.80 for the win. The Temporal Hanover freshman is owned by Silver Bit Equine and John McGill. Walter Haynes Jr. trains the Martin Hilty bred gelding.
It was the second win for Temporals Dream and a new lifetime mark. He has now earned just over $20,000 in his brief career.
