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First Winner For Majestic Harbor Comes At Indiana Grand

Grade 1 winner Majestic Harbor was represented by his first winner at stud on Monday when Dance Money went wire-to-wire and held on to win a maiden special weight race at Indiana Grand.

Under jockey Santo Sanjur, Dance Money held off foes for the lead early in the 5 1/2-furlong main track race, and shook loose by two lengths at the top of the stretch. The filly then held off a late charge by Sweet Justice to hang on by a neck at odds of 23-1. She stopped the clock in 1:07.13 for owners Barbara Eakin and Shelly Nance, and trainer Jonathan Nance.

Dance Money was bred in Indiana by Anthony Wolfe and Julie Mudman. She is out of the placed Cactus Ridge mare Cactusa, who raced as a homebred for Toby Keith's Dream Walkin Farms.

Majestic Harbor stands at Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif., for an advertised fee of $2,500. However, he began his stud career in Indiana at Swifty Farms.

A 12-year-old son of Rockport Harbor, Majestic Harbor won 10 of 42 starts over seven seasons of racing for earnings of $1,295,814. His race record is highlighted by victories in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes, the G2 Alysheba Stakes, and the G3 Tokyo City Cup Stakes and Mineshaft Handicap.

Majestic Harbor is out of the stakes-placed French Deputy mare Champagne Royale, making him a half-brother to Grade 1-winner and classic-placed Danza, stakes-placed Tickled Pink, and graded stakes producer Totally Tucker, who is herself the dam of Grade 3 winners Totally Boss and Super Steed.

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Flatter Hymn Answers All The Questions In Governor’s Stakes

There were several question marks arriving along with Flatter Hymn into Indiana. The thee-year-old son of Flat Out had two career starts, both wins at Charles Town. He had never raced outside of his home base, much less around two turns, but the good-looking gelding silenced all question marks with an impressive victory in the 18th Running of the $100,000 Governor's Stakes Wed. Aug. 26 at Indiana Grand.

Starting from the outside post eight, Flatter Hymn was one of the first to contend for the lead with Indiana Grand's leading jockey DeShawn Parker aboard. The duo sat along the outside of Chipofftheoldblock and Alex Achard through the early stages of the one mile, 70-yard event. In the turn, it appeared that the late closers might be too tough to tackle as Mai Tai's Gem and Santo Sanjur along with race favorite Two Last Words and Fernando De La Cruz moved up into position.

In the stretch, Flatter Hymn came alive and got back into contention for the lead, getting the advantage in the last few strides to win by one and one-quarter length over Mai Tai's Gem. Two Last Words finished third.

“I had trouble getting him to settle,” said Parker. “I was trying to get him to relax at first. He actually backed off at one point, but he seemed to get a breather and then he came right back and hit another gear. He gave me everything he had. He didn't have a bit of trouble with two turns.”

Flatter Hymn was the third choice on the board, paying $8.60, $4.00, $3.00 across the board. Bred by Sugarland Thoroughbreds of Indiana, the sophomore gelding is owned by Everett Novak's New Farm, who purchased him as a yearling for $30,000 from the Fasig Tipton Mid Atlantic Eastern Fall Sale in Maryland. Jeff Runco trains.

Runco is the longtime leading trainer at Hollywood Casino Charles Town. He is once again leading the standings in 2020 and has amassed more than 4,300 career wins. The Graded Stakes winning trainer mainly focuses his stable in West Virginia, but when the stakes opportunity came up for Flatter Hymn, he decided to send him to Indiana and reconnected with Parker.

“I used to ride a lot for Jeff (Runco) when I was out at Mountaineer,” said Parker. “I even went over to Charles Town to ride for him some. I talked to him on the phone about this horse and he told me both times, he got in trouble in his last races. I watched his last race, and he was in trouble at the top of the stretch, and there, once you get in the stretch, it seems like only a few jumps and you are at the wire. For him to get out of trouble and go on and win in that start was really impressive.”

Flatter Hymn returns to West Virginia as a stakes winner and a near-$100,000 winner. He keeps his record perfect with three wins in three starts. Flatter Hymn was unraced at two.

“When Jeff (Runco) decided to nominate this horse to the stakes, he gave us a call,” said Ricky Giannini, who oversees Brad Cox's Stable at Indiana Grand. “He shipped in a few days ago with Jeff's assistant just for this race. We actually sent a West Virginia bred to Jeff a few weeks ago for a race, so we just traded horses for a little bit.”

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Wellington Wonder Jumps From Maiden Win To Dominate First Lady Stakes

It was finally time for Wellington Wonder to shine. Fresh off her maiden-breaking win in her last start, the Warrior's Reward filly blasted by her opponents for a dominant win in the 18th running of the $100,000 Indiana First Lady Stakes Wednesday, Aug. 26 at Indiana Grand.

Trained by Michelle Lovell, Wellington Wonder started her journey from post five in the seven-filly lineup for jockey Alex Achard. Race favorite Copper Nickel and Rodney Prescott along with Nothingbutflowers and DeShawn Parker moved out for the lead, challenging each other for the top spot. Wellington Wonder opted to sit outside of Mintchocolatechip and Tommy Pompell, gapping several lengths off the top two.

Down the backstretch, Serena Beck and Emmanuel Esquivel made a big move around Wellington Wonder and Mintchocolatechip in pursuit of the leaders, catching up with the top two around the final turn of the one mile and 70-yard race. Wellington Wonder began moving up midway through the turn and at the top of the stretch, had a perfect shot to take control of the field. She continued to increase her advantage, winning by six and one-quarter lengths at the finish in 1:44.48. Serena Beck finished second over Dontyouremember and Jermaine Bridgmohan for third.

“She just keeps improving, she's always there,” said Achard, who has ridden the Wellington Wonder in all six of her career starts. “Today was a tough race. She doesn't like the dirt in her face. When the seven (Serena Beck) went by us, we gave up going with her because I knew that wasn't what was best. She is just consistent and gave me everything she's got. She is something special.”

A surprise to bettors, Wellington Wonder paid $22.20, $6.80, $3.80 across the board. It was her second win in four starts for 2020 for owners Jerry Romans, Charlie Spiring and Zoom and Fish Stable Inc., who purchased her from the Swifty Farm consignment as a yearling at the Fasig Tipton Sale in Kentucky for $25,000.

“This is a great group of friends that own this filly,” said Lovell, who is based at Churchill Downs with 20 horses. “They bought her at the sale. We have taken our time with her. We gave her the winter off, not because there was anything wrong, but because she is a big filly and we wanted to take our time because she's Indiana bred. We wanted to get her ready for Indiana and the summer stakes races. She's the only Indiana bred I have in my barn.”

Wellington Wonder earned her first stakes win in the effort. It also marked the first career stakes victory for Achard, who has been riding stateside for the past two years after relocating to the United States from his native France.

“I'm so happy for Alex,” added Lovell. “When he first got here (Midwest), I saw him win for someone else and thought he could really ride. He has always liked this filly and he knows her really well. She only has one big stride and he knows how to time his move. He works so hard, so I'm glad to see him get his first stakes win.”

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Indiana Grand’s Pick 5 Carryover Builds To $63,301 For Wednesday Card

Indiana Grand will kick off its Pick 5 wager with a carryover of $63,301.81 Wednesday, Aug. 26. The wager begins in Race 5 and will feature two stakes, the 18th running of the $100,000 Indiana First Lady in Race 6 and the 17th running of the $100,000 Governor's Stakes in Race 8. The Pick 5 offers one of the lowest takeouts in North America at 11.99 percent.

It was a big day of payouts at Indiana Grand on Tuesday. The Straight Fire 6 (Jackpot Pick 6) was hit after four days of action, paying $24,987 after Race 7, the pool almost doubling in size Tuesday. Also, the 50 cent Pick 4 payout following Race 9 paid $46,856.50.

Live racing resumes at 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26. Racing is held Monday through Thursday each week through Wednesday, Nov. 18. Two more Saturday programs are slated for all-Quarter Horse racing days Oct. 3 and Oct. 24 with a daytime first post. For more information, visit www.indianagrand.com.

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