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Indiana-Bred, -Sired Stakes Back to $100K Minimum

A proposal from the Indiana Thoroughbred Breed Development (ITBD) to return the purse levels of all Indiana-bred and -sired stakes races to a minimum of $100,000 was approved by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) at a meeting held July 15 has been approved. The increase applies to 22 stakes event and is being made retroactive to the beginning of the stakes season, which kicked off May 19.

Ten stakes have already been contested and the winning connections from those races will receive an additional $25,000 coming directly from the ITBD portion of the purse account. A half-dozen stakes yet to be run with listed purses of $100,000 will be raised to $150,000, including the Governor's S., the Indiana First Lady S., To Much Coffee S., Cardinal S., Unreachable Star S. and the Lady Foghorn S.

“Seeing this addition to our already healthy stakes schedule is a great boost to our racing program,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “Indiana Grand is fortunate to have such great partnerships with both the state and the horsemen's organizations. This level of stakes purses brings us back to where we were in 2019, and it's a great incentive for future investment and participation in the state bred program.”

Jessica Barnes, Director of Breed Development, worked closely with the horsemen's organizations and Indiana Grand for the proposal to the IHRC. The increase will boost the state-bred stakes for 2021 by more than $850,000.

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Piedi Bianchi Doubles Up In Frances Slocum Stakes

Piedi Bianchi has been brilliant most of her career, tackling Graded Stakes company beginning in her 2-year-old season with a fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in 2017. Now, the 5-year-old grey Indiana bred mare is a two-time winner of the $100,000 Frances Slocum Stakes, scoring a convincing win Wednesday, Nov. 18. It was the 24th running of the event going 1 1/16 miles at Indiana Grand.

Piedi Bianchi, who was kicking her heels up in the post parade, was ready to race when the gates opened. She burst out of post nine in the 12-horse lineup and was quickly among the top group heading to the lead. Copper Nickel and Jermaine Bridgmohan crossed over to the lead and were tracked closely by Unbridled Class and Rodney Prescott in the early stages. Horses were three and four wide around the first turn to stay close to the pace setters.

Down the backstretch, some began to retreat, allowing Piedi Bianchi to advance up slowly on the outside. In the final turn, she began to stretch out even more and was neck and neck with Magical Peapod and Rocco Bowen and Copper Nickel. In the stretch, Fernando De La Cruz gave a command to advance and she blasted to the lead, drawing away by seven and one-half lengths at the finish line for the win. Fireball Baby and Marcelino Pedroza closed gamely for second, just a head in front of Expect Indy and Emmanuel Esquivel to make it a first and third finish for trainer Cipriano Contreras.

“I was a little worried about the post position,” admitted De La Cruz. “We were four-wide, but we were able to sit down and wait. I knew at the half-mile we had a good shot to win because I was sitting on a lot of horse. At the quarter pole, I asked her for more and she did it all by herself.”

Piedi Bianchi now has six career wins in 19 career starts for owners Jay Oringer, Jack Bick and Madaket Stables. An $80,000 purchase at two from the Ocala sales in 2017, Piedi Bianchi now possesses in excess of $578,000 in purse earnings and moves into eighth place on the list of all-time leading Indiana bred money earners. Among females, she is ranked third behind Lady Fog Horn ($824,273) and Dreamin Big ($602,350).

“This is a nice mare that has been running in Graded Stakes competition,” said Contreras. “She has been training really good up to this race and I think she is a little bit better going a little longer. The main thing today is to stay out of trouble and the race worked out perfectly. When you are a big favorite like that, the worst thing to happen is to get caught in behind horses, so being wide wasn't a concern. Fernando (De La Cruz) did a good job. He waited and was patient.”

The abbreviated 2020 racing season comes to a close Thursday, Nov. 19 with a mandatory payout in the Straight Fire 6. The carryover heading into closing day is in excess of $140,000 and will begin in Race 5 to capture the final six Thoroughbred races of the season. Racing dates for 2021 will be approved and announced by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission in December.

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Sandy’s Newsgirl Breaks Her Maiden In Indiana’s Swifty Sired Fillies Stakes

It's been a year of trials and tribulations for Sandy's Newsgirl, and all the hard work paid off Wednesday, June 17. The 3-year-old Indiana sired daughter of Elite Squadron picked up her first career win in the seventh running of the $75,000 Swifty Sired Fillies Stakes at Indiana Grand.

Jockey Fernando De La Cruz wasted no time getting Sandy's Newsgirl in the mix of the six-furlong sprint. The sophomore filly rushed out to the lead, keeping open lengths between her and the remainder of the field the entire distance. At the top of the stretch, Sandy's Newsgirl increased her dominating hold on the lead, opening up by six and one-quarter lengths at the wire for the win. French Vanilla and Emmanuel Esquivel maintained ground for second followed by Angry Bee and Carlos Diaz, who moved up late to finish third. Time for the stakes race was 1:14.18.

“I can see a big improvement this year in her,” said De La Cruz, who rode her in all six of her starts last year at two, finishing second in four of those outings. “I wanted to make it to the lead. Those were my instructions. I just wanted to sit there and keep her going to the wire. I've been getting on her a lot in the mornings. You can really tell a difference in her physically.”

Sandy's Newsgirl paid $13.00, $6.40, $6.20 across the board. She increased her career bankroll to more than $75,000 for the ownership group of Ironhorse Racing Stable, managed by Harlan Malter. Tim Glyshaw trains Sandy's Newsgirl and likes what he sees in her this season.

“We are extremely happy about her race today,” said Glyshaw. “She has always shown speed. She's grown up a lot both size wise and maturity wise. We could see that. Her works are just as fast as they were last year, but we still weren't 100 percent sure about her. She's had trouble carrying her speed in the past, but we wanted to try her in this stake.”

Sandy's Newsgirl's road to the winner's circle has been a little bumpy this year. In February, she arrived at Glyshaw's barn in Tampa and ran right through the webbing and attempted to jump a four-foot concrete wall, with no success. As a result, she was left with a deep wound on her hock, an injury that could not be corrected with stitches.

“Tim (Glyshaw) and his crew handled the day to day care on this filly and put in so much work to get her right,” said Malter. “To see a horse come back and run like that is a huge testament to Tim. It just shows how dedicated he is to his horses. I don't think people realize how much time and effort he puts into this.”

Malter, who is based on the West Coast, is generally trackside for as many Indiana stakes as he can attend, but due to current travel restrictions, he had to watch Sandy's Newsgirl win via simulcast.

“I wasn't there because I didn't think she (Sandy's Newsgirl) could win, I just have not been able to get on a plane,” added Malter. “We are part of the breeders on this filly too, and through Superbad Stables, this is our first-ever time of breeding a stakes winner. It's been a very exciting day.”

Superbad Stables teamed up with Pine Lake Breeders of Carmel as breeders on Sandy's Newsgirl. Superbad Stables is now concentrating their efforts on former Ironhorse Stable standout Bucchero, who stands at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Morriston, Fla.

“Superbad is now in the business of breeding Bucchero babies,” added Malter. “We have a lot to look forward to.”

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