Photo by Dean Gillette
The Thursday card at Harrah’s Hoosier Park featured the third round of Indiana Sires Stakes action. Along with those races were several Indiana Sires Stakes eligible events with a group of Swan for Alls dominating the top four spots among three-year-old colt and gelding trotters. Nighthawk Zette and LeWayne Miller continued their winning ways, scoring their fourth win of the season in 1:54.4, a new lifetime mark.
Nighthawk Zette began from the outside post seven and left for the lead, but so did Hawt Yoga and Marcus Miller to their inside. The sophomore went with them for part of the way before backing off and slipping into the three hole as Hawt Yoga went onto the lead. Littleknownexpress and Lavern Hostetler sat in second as the field went by the quarter in :27.3. Down the backstretch, Nighthawk Zette moved to the outside and made a bold rush up to take over the top spot at the half in :57.1.
Around the final turn, Nighthawk Zette was in command but Swan’s Masterpiece and Dan Shetler were on the move and came up to match them stride for stride to the top of the stretch. Once the field turned for home, Nighthawk Zette got a slight advantage and then began to move away from his opponents. He was a winner by two lengths in 1:54.4 with a final quarter in :28.1. Swan’s Masterpiece finished second over Hawt Yoga to make it a Swan for All trifecta.
Nighthawk Zette paid $4.20 as the favorite in the field. The three-year-old had limited starts last year at two and did not win a race. However, he has returned this season with impressive skills, winning four of 10 starts and more than $40,000 for the season. He is owned by his current connections, which includes L & S Racing, Lyndar Stables, and Richard Freese. Cozette McAvoy of Pennsylvania bred and raised the gelding, who was purchased by LeWayne Miller for $8,000 from the Standardbred Sale in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as a yearling. He is the latest foal from the Credit Winner mare Zette Starlet, who was a winner in 1:54.4 with earnings of nearly $200,000. She is a 100 percent producer as a brood mare and has four foals, including Blackhawk Zette with a mark of 1:53.0 and earnings of more than $422,000. Nighthawk Zette is now her second fastest foal and her only Indiana sired one.
Also a winner on the card was veteran claimer Meadowbrook Mark from the Nikki Hauck Stable and driven by Atlee Bender. The seven-year-old Dover Dan gelding, owned by Haucks Racing Stables, sat in third before moving out and headed to the lead, winning by one ad one-quarter lengths in 1:55.1. Rock Party and Trace Tetrick finished second over Ponda Bear and Kevin Lambright.
Meadowbrook Mark paid $32.20 for the win. Bred by Karl Miller, he is the son of former Indiana Sires Stakes champion Foxy Swan, a winner in 1:57 with $234,000 on her card. Meadowbrook Mark is her first foal. She has also produced Tarzan, a winner in 1:53.2 with more than $200,000 in earnings. She has a three-year-old this season named Meadowbrook Duke who is racing and a weanling filly by Rebuff named Meadowbrook Zoey.
