“I'd have to say winning the $250,000 stakes [with Latigo] was the highlight of the year for us,” said Spiess, who is a graduate of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. “It's been a really great year and Randy and his crew do an outstanding job.”

Klopp also eked out a training title, earning the distinction after taking the sixth race with Surley. Heading into the final day of action, Klopp led Trainer Genaro Garcia by two wins with a count of 64 to 62. Garcia scored a win in the second race to tighten up the race, but the win by Surley put Klopp at 65 wins on the year for the title. Horses from Klopp's barn have earned more than $1.7 million this season and the stable maintained a 21% win rate and a 53% in-the-money record.

“I'm very thankful,” said Klopp. “I thank all the employees and our crew and the owners. If it weren't for the owners, we couldn't do this. Also, a special thanks to the jockeys and the agents that handle their rides. It's been a great year.”

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Featured on the card is a $37,000 Indiana sired allowance in the sixth race. The eight-horse field brings the return of several Indiana winners from last season, including Sudden Shift from the Bob Gorham Stable. The three-year-old Unbridled Express gelding finished second in his final start of 2020 in the $75,000 Indiana Futurity. DeShawn Parker, 2020 leading rider at Indiana Grand, will guide Sudden Shift from post seven.

Parker earned his first leading jockey title at Indiana Grand in 2020 with 106 trips to the winner's circle. The jockey with more than 5,800 career wins adds the title from Indiana Grand to his impressive resume with numerous leading jockey titles from Mountaineer Park. Joining Parker in the race for leading jockey in 2021 is Marcelino Pedroza, Jr., who won his second leading jockey title at Indiana Grand in 2019. Pedroza was sidelined for most of the 2020 season due to injury.

In the trainer category, Genaro Garcia returns seeking his fifth straight title. He topped the standings last year with 43 wins over the shortened 96-day racing season. His stable, Southwest Racing, teamed up with Steve Lewis last year to also win leading owner honors.

The 120-day racing season extends through Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. The stakes schedule has been expanded to include several new stakes, bringing the total count to 40 with purses exceeding $3.6 million. Highlighting the stakes season is the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby and the Grade 3 $200,000 Indiana Oaks set for Wednesday, July 7. Also featured is the state's richest turf race, the $150,000 Caesars Stakes (Listed) set for Wednesday, Sept. 8.

Live racing is conducted Monday through Wednesday at 2:25 p.m. with first post on Thursday set at 3:25 p.m. Six all-Quarter Horse days have been set beginning with the first one Saturday, June 5 at 10 a.m. More information about the 2021 racing season is available at www.indianagrand.com.

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Now, pictures have become even more of a motivation for the determined Bowen, 31, specifically two that he said hang in an important travel hub in his native Barbados, a small Caribbean island northeast of Venezuela.

One of those pictures, Bowen said, is of Patrick Husbands, the gold standard for Barbadian riders and an eight-time Sovereign Award winner as the outstanding jockey in Canada. The other is of celebrated Barbadian singer/actress Rihanna.

Bowen said he hopes one day to see a third picturing hanging in Grantley Adams International Airport. His picture.

“No, I'm serious,” Bowen said. “That's the only two people – they're ambassadors. That's my goal, man, to have my picture in the airport because everyone comes through the airport.”

Bowen's quest to add to his photo portfolio has him at Oaklawn, where he is riding for the first time this year after a debilitating arm injury cost him approximately 1 ½ years in the saddle, threatened his livelihood and  led to a career U-turn in 2020 after once dominating the racing landscape in the Pacific Northwest.

Bowen has already recorded two milestones in his comeback. His 1,000th career North American victory came Nov. 11 at Indiana Grand, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. Bowen also won his first race at historic Churchill Downs earlier in the year.

“I feel great physically,” Bowen said. “I'm 100 percent.”

Born and raised in Barbados, Bowen's hook to racing was through his father, who owned a couple of cheap horses. Bowen said he began riding match races in the “pasture” when he was 8 or 9, attended jockey school and made his professional debut at 15.

“It didn't come natural,” Bowen said of his early days as a rider. “My dad always told me that jockeys are born to do it, but I wouldn't say I was a natural. I had a lot to learn. I really didn't look good and stuff. My dad always had a lot of faith in me. He always thought I was going to go far.”

Bowen said he won 21 races as a jockey in Barbados. Although Barbados has year-round racing, Bowen said opportunities there are limited because of a truncated racing calendar. Bowen said that led his family to pool their finances and, following Husband's lead, send him to Canada at 16 to continue his career.

Bowen landed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and rode his first race at Hastings Park on April 28, 2007.

After cutting his teeth in Canada, Bowen eventually became a star in the Pacific Northwest. He became the first Bajan jockey to win a riding title in the United States at the 2015-'16 Portland Meadows meeting and was champion jockey three consecutive years (2016, 2017 and 2018) at Emerald Downs in suburban Seattle.

Bowen never had a chance to capture a fourth consecutive Emerald Downs riding title after being injured during training hours in September 2018. Bowen said he damaged his shoulder and suffered a concussion after being thrown to the ground when a rein a broke on a horse he was breezing.

“I was out for 25 minutes,” Bowen said. “Normal morning. I just remember getting on the horse in the barn. I don't remember anything after that.”

Bowen's injury occurred during the closing weeks of the Emerald Downs meeting. The jockey had a meet-best 97 victories and was trying to reach triple digits for the third consecutive year after finishing with 110 in 2016 and 126 in 2017.

“I was not going to let that injury stop me, getting the three wins,” Bowen said. “It was something I never would have lived down. It was something I really wanted to do.”

Bowen said he took a week off and resumed riding after being cleared by a doctor. He finished with 109 victories. But Bowen wouldn't ride again until June 4, 2020, at Belterra Park, owing to the shoulder injury that triggered numbness in his right hand.

Bowen said he was in so much pain at the end of the 2018 Emerald Downs meeting that he remembers once having to use his left arm to raise his right after awakening from a restless night of sleep.

“I ended up riding and I just put the horse in the middle of the racetrack,” Bowen said. “I didn't put myself in a bad spot because I'm riding with one hand. Just was determined because it took me so much to get to the top of Emerald that I was not going to let that hand stop me. I kind of had that feeling that I wasn't going to be able to ride that winter, so that would have played with me all the time. Even being leading rider, I wasn't going to stop at 97 wins. I just kept on pushing.”

Bowen said he initially believed he would miss “three or four months” because of the injury, but months stretched into more than a year because of lingering problems. Bowen said he didn't undergo surgery and time finally erased the pain.

“The thought of never riding again, that almost took away my heart,” Bowen said.

Bowen said he had planned to make his comeback last summer at Arlington Park, even signing a one-year lease on an apartment three minutes from the track. Yet another roadblock: No racing (COVID-19).

But Bowen was so hungry to return to the saddle that in late May he began driving 3 ½ hours each day from suburban Chicago to Anderson, Ind., to work horses for trainer Genaro Garcia in preparation for Indiana Grand's opening, delayed until June 15, (COVID-19).

With no place to stay in Indiana, Bowen said he would drive back to Arlington Heights after training hours, only to start the process over the following day at 1 a.m. (Central). Bowen said the track closed at 11 a.m. (Eastern).

“The first day, I was late for work, an hour,” Bowen said. “I didn't know they had a time change. That's what I had to do. Once I got my first paycheck, then I got a hotel.”

Bowen's first victory in his comeback came aboard the Garcia-trained Hyndford June 5 at Belterra Park. Bowen's first mount at Churchill Downs, White Wolf, became the jockey's first winner there five days later. Bowen, as a regular, rode 39 winners in his Indiana Grand debut to finish eighth in the standings. His mounts earned $934,902.

“The first race I rode, I got (disqualified), the very first race of the meet, opening day, but not for lack of trying,” Bowen, jokingly, said. “I was like, 'Man, people are going to think this is a wild and crazy guy.' But by the fifth race of the day, I won on my favorite horse since my comeback, Unmoored, for Mr. Genaro Garcia. I won three races on that horse last summer.”

White Wolf's trainer, Paul Holthus of Hot Springs, has been another one of Bowen's biggest supporters in his comeback. They teamed for six victories at Indiana Grand and have continued their relationship this year at Oaklawn.

“He's a good kid,” Holthus said. “Really like him. Good attitude. He's a good enough rider, for sure.”

Bowen, whose agent/mentor is retired jockey Joe Steiner, said his plan is to remain based in the Midwest. Asked why he didn't make his comeback at Emerald Downs, Bowen said it would have been a sign of weakness.

“To me, that would have been easy,” Bowen said. “It probably would have taken me another three years to leave again.”

Get the picture?

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“This is the best thing of the meet and of my year,” said Parker. “I had some chances the past couple of years to win [the title], but I got hurt and it just didn’t work out. My agent, Jimmy [McNerney], always does a good job but he did an exceptional job this year for me, and I was able to stay healthy. I can’t put into words what this means. This means so much to me.”

Trainer Genaro Garcia won 43 races and over $900,000 in purse earnings to take the training title, his fourth straight. Garcia and Steve Lewis’s Southwest Racing Stable got its second leading owner title with the close of the meet. In addition, apprentice rider Joshua Morales took the Juan Saez Leading Apprentice Award, named in honor of 2014 leading apprentice Juan Saez, who was killed in a racing incident that year.

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A native of Mexico, horses from Garcia's barn won 43 races and in excess of $900,000 to top the trainer standings. He now has 312 career wins at Indiana Grand to rank fifth among the track's all-time leading trainers.

“This is excellent and I'm so excited,” said Garcia. “I'm really happy for the wins and want to say thank you to everyone on the backside and to Indiana Grand and all my owners for their support. It makes me feel so good. I know this is a job, but I love this business so much and love what I do.”

Although the main proponent of Garcia's barn are older claiming rank horses, 2-year-olds is where his passion falls, and he had a great season with Indiana bred Lookin at Justice, who won the $75,000 Indiana Futurity to close out the meet. The horse is one of many he co-owns with Lewis.

“Two-year olds, that's my passion and my goal,” said Garcia. “We bought the second farm because it has indoor space for us to break babies. I think anyone in this business has these hopes.”

Garcia will divide his massive stable up for the winter, sending a dozen to Oaklawn and most to Turfway Park while keeping the babies near his home base in Greenwood, Ind. Although the meet at Indiana Grand comes to a conclusion, it's not the end of the year for Garcia and Lewis.

Lewis, a businessman from Chicago who is the president of Lewis Floor & Home, has been involved in horse racing for the past 25 years. His racing entities were mainly centered at the Chicagoland tracks and he began to get into the breeding end of the business in Illinois before deciding to make a change to Indiana. He has been breeding in Indiana with Leigh Anne Hopper of R Star Stallions in Anderson, Ind., and asked for a suggestion for trainers. One of the names was Garcia, and it wasn't long before Lewis and Garcia formed a partnership.

“I gave one inexpensive horse to Genaro to train and from there, we basically developed a very good partnership,” said Lewis. “He's the guy that does all the work and it's been an unbelievable meet that exceeded all my expectations. I've been in partnerships in the past, but Genaro is willing to equally invest with me and I'm impressed with the way he keeps a barn and the way the horses are cared for and the quality of help he has. He does things right and I truly appreciate that.”

Lewis noted that they had a couple of setbacks during the season but were able to regroup and move forward. They knew they were in a good spot to potentially get the leading owner award heading into the final two weeks of the meet, and although a few horses didn't make it to the winner's circle, they had one surprise Tuesday, Nov. 17, in Lookin at Justice.

“I have a passion for horse racing and I've often said this is a roller coaster without a seatbelt,” added Lewis. “The last week we had three in that were favorites and they all got beat. The last thing I expected was for Lookin at Justice to run the way he did in the stakes (Indiana Futurity). Genaro has liked him from the start.”

The leading owner title with Garcia's Southwest Racing Stable and Lewis marks the first for him. It completes a solid season that included multiple wins from horses such as Boyfriend Material, French Vanilla, El Bohemio and Naughty Alfred, just to name a few.

“I am very fortunate to have such good owners, especially Bruce Murphy and Steve Lewis,” added Garcia. “They have given me a lot of support and I've very happy for Mr. Steve (Lewis) to earn his first title.”

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Starting from post four in the 12-horse lineup, Castanon had Lookin at Justice ready to roll out of the gate, getting good early positioning behind early leader A Few Too Many and Tommy Pompell. Lookin at Justice followed along comfortably down the backstretch as horses vied for position on the outside. Heading into the final turn, Lookin at Justice moved up and moved on to lead the field into the final portions of the race.

In the stretch, Lookin at Justice hit another gear and rolled out to a dominant lead for an easy win. Sudden Shift and DeShawn Parker rallied up late to finish second over Rockin All Night and Rodney Prescott, who also closed well for third place.

“Anytime you get to ride for Mr. Genaro (Garcia), you go out with a lot of confidence,” said Castanon. “I've been on him (Lookin at Justice) in the mornings so I knew him a little. He got somewhat confused turning into the stretch because he looked over and saw the starting gate and he picked up his ears. But I smooched to him one time to pick it up and he took off.”

It was the second win in six starts for Lookin at Justice, who is owned by Steve Lewis of Chicago and Genaro Garcia's Southwest Racing Stable. The juvenile son of Atreides was a $15,000 purchase last year at Fasig Tipton's October Yearling Sale in Kentucky. The Justice Farm product now has in excess of $80,000 in career earnings.

“I always thought two turns would be better for this colt,” said Garcia, who handles the training duties. “He would be much better for a distance because when he was in a sprint, you had to push him the entire time. I feel like he will be a nice 3-year-old. He's one of the special ones in the barn.”

Lewis and Garcia's Southwest Racing Stable is currently leading the owner standings with 19 wins heading into the final two days of racing. Garcia is leading the trainer standings with 41 wins. A title in 2020 would be Garcia's fourth straight training title at Indiana Grand.

The final two days of racing in 2020 offers a lot of action. A $115,522.76 carryover will kick off the Straight Fire 6 Jackpot Pick 6 in the second race Wednesday, Nov. 18. The card also includes two stakes, the 23rd running of the $100,000 To Much Coffee Stakes and the 24th running of the $100,000 Frances Slocum Stakes for older Indiana breds.

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