From The Starting Gate INDIANA THOROUGHBRED HORSE RACING NEWS By Megan Arszman | Indiana Thoroughbred Alliance | http://www.indianatb.org/
2021 Marque Thoroughbred Sales The Indiana Thoroughbred Alliance (ITA) is looking forward to the 2021 Marquee Thoroughbred sales season, which kicks off in September with the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and FasigTipton September Sale, both in Lexington, KY. The ITA will be sponsoring sales spotlights for Indiana-bred and -sired yearlings going through the fall sales season on https://www.paulickreport.com/ and their website, http://indianatb.org/ To find your next race winner, make sure you're following the ITA on social media (Facebook.com/IndyThoroughbred). 2020 Indiana Stallion of the Year For the second year in a row, Unbridled Express (Unbridled’s Song – Skye Castles, by Sky Classic) was named the Indiana Stallion of the Year. Unbridled Express, who stands at Swifty Farms in Seymour, Indiana, is owned and bred by Bernard Flint and Ron Hillerich. The pair teamed up in 2004 to breed and campaign the eventual stallion. After a dominating performance in a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs at two, Hillerich knew they had something special in Unbridled Express. “He had beaten eventual Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense by four lengths,” recalled Hillerich. His next race was the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, where Unbridled Express finished third behind Scat Daddy and Circular Quay, sustaining an injury in that race that continued to plague him and end the colt’s career at three. “He never could make it back to form,” said Hillerich. “However, he’s been a blessing in disguise. Bernie and I both knew what we had in that horse. It’s a shame that he got hurt early, but we just didn’t want to let that talent go to waste.” 2021 Indiana Thoroughbred Fall Mixed Sale So sets the stage for Unbridled Express’s onset into a stallion career. While Flint and Hillerich had been actively breeding in The 2021 edition of the Indiana Thoroughbred Fall Mixed Sale, hostKentucky, they had heard more about the Indiana Thoroughbred ed by the Indiana Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association Breed Development Program and it enticed them to look for a home (ITOBA) will be held October 16th in the Receiving Barn at Indiana for their young stallion. Grand Racing & Casino in Shelbyville, Indiana. “We had read about the development program and all of the New this year includes a $5,000 incentive to the consignor of the incentives for Indiana, and we thought with his bloodline and his highest money-earning Indiana-bred or -sired 2 year old racing at talent, it was a shame if we didn’t try to see what we could do with Indiana Grand in 2022 (that sells during the 2021 sale). A second him as a stallion,” said Hillerich. “So, we decided to try him in $5,000 incentive goes to the purchaser of the highest moneyIndiana. Thank goodness we did.” earning Indiana-bred or -sired 2 year old racing at Indiana Grand in 2022 (that was purchased at the 2021 sale). In the past three years, Unbridled Express has been in the top five for sires standing in Indiana. The past year was his banner year, The sale will be managed by Duane Swingley Auctioneers, and is with three foals winning stakes races in Indiana Grand. His top open to all horsemen (must be a member of ITOBA, which can be progeny in the past two years include 2019 Indiana Horse of the purchased prior to consignment). Sale consignments are accepted Year Unbridled Class (LTE $481,299), Mystery Unbridled until August 6th. More information can be found online at: ($254,823) and Super Jen ($104,913). http://duaneswingleyauctioneers.com./ AUGUST 2021 • C & C PUBLISHING, INC. ©2021 (29) WWW.SADDLEUPMAG.COM State Bred & Stakes Purses See Increase at Indiana Grand
The Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) approved a proposal by the Indiana Thoroughbred Breed Development (ITBD) at their meeting Thursday, July 15, 2021 held at Harrah’s Hoosier Park to reimplement all state bred and sired stakes back to a minimum of $100,000. The increase will affect 22 stakes and will be retroactive to the beginning of the stakes season, which began May 19, 2021. A total of ten stakes have already been run. Winning connections from those races will receive an additional $25,000 coming directly from the ITBD portion of the purse account. In addition, six stakes with purses advertised at $100,000 for 2021 will be boosted to $150,000. The six “Indiana Signature Stakes” moving to $150,000 include The Governor’s Stakes, The Indiana First Lady, The To Much Coffee Stakes, The Cardinal Stakes, The Unreachable Star Stakes and The Lady Fog Horn Stakes. “Seeing this addition to our already healthy stakes schedule is a great boost to our racing program,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President/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.” The increase will boost the state bred stakes for 2021 by more than $850,000. The increase comes about a month after the racetrack announced a 10 percent increase to all Thoroughbred overnights and an increase of roughly $1,000 to each Quarter Horse overnight and trial (approximately a 6 percent increase). “We have had a great season so far in 2021 and we are pleased to announce this purse increase across the board for our horsemen,” said Eric Halstrom, vice president and general manager of racing. “This boost is a direct result of elevated business levels that continue to be strong this year. We appreciate the support from our racing fans, and we are working hard to continue offering a solid, competitive program for both Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse racing.”
