ANDERSON — There’s every reason to believe that Saturday afternoon’s Dan Patch Invitational will be one of the most competitive in the 16-year history of the event.
The race is slated to have a field of 10 and is scheduled to be the 13th race of a 14-race card. The approximate post time is 5:01 p.m.
The field has compiled an average of more than $1 million in earnings per starter.
It is easy to tab at least four horses who could carry the favorite tag by the time the gate swings open and unleashes the entrants.
One of those is Mister Big, a 6-year-old who was named the Older Pacer of the Year just a season ago. His earnings of $3.2 million is No. 5 on the all-time leading money winners list. There has been no decision yet on the driver for him.
Another 6-year-old, Winbak Speed, will also get a lot of action. He has made 17 starts this year and won nine of them. He has a time of 1:49 posted earlier this year at The Meadowlands.
Dali is another horse with many things that make him a contender for the title. He is 4 years old and is undefeated in two 2009 starts. He was second in last year’s Hoosier Cup and has drawn one of the top Hoosier Park drivers in Ricky Macomber Jr. Macomber has been the winning driver in two Dan Patch events.
Art Official also has to be considered a threat, having won the 2008 Hoosier Cup.
The complete field for the Dan Patch Invitational Pace, in post position order with driver and odds includes: Robin I Scoot (Sam Widger, 15-1), Southwestern Dream (Trace Tetrick, 8-1), Dali (Ricky Macomber Jr., 9-2), Rocket Fuel (Dan Shetler, 20-1), Royalton Star (Andy Shetler, 20-1), Mister Big (Brad Hanners, 2-1), Winbak Speed (Jim Morand, 7-2), Shark Gesture (Brandon Simpson, 6-1), Won The West (Greg Grismore, 12-1), and Art Official (Peter Wrenn, 4-1). Art Official will begin from the second tier in post position 10.
Leading into the Dan Patch Invitational is the $24,000 Haston Memorial set as race 12. The race is named in honor of driver-trainer Gregg Haston, who was tragically killed in a car accident in 1996. Haston was the winning driver of the inaugural race Sept. 1, 1994, behind BK Bentley. He also scored both the first driving and training titles in 1994.
Also, four divisions of 3-year-old trotting and pacing colts and geldings will be featured in Indiana Sires Stakes action.
Hoosier Park will host several other events throughout the day. Charity Chariots will provide guests with the unique opportunity to drive a racehorse around Hoosier Park’s oval beginning at 11 a.m. Guests select one of the Fab Five drivers to ride with them in a double-seated jog cart. A fee of $20 is charged with all proceeds going to charity. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m. near the winner’s circle.
Other activities include a Fab Five T-shirt giveaway to Club Centaur Rewards members while supplies last and children’s activities including face painting, a bounce house, and a magician. Jayne Bond and The Pink Martinis will perform two free shows on the casino floor later in the evening. The first show is set for 8 p.m. while the second show begins at 10:30 p.m.
Trainer Rachel Matthews will take on a different role Saturday as the Dan Patch horses prepare to go to the gate. Matthews will be aboard her retired standardbred, Survive This, serving as parade marshal.
Survive This, bred and raised by Matthews and her father, Mark, has always had a special place in the family. The 7-year-old son of Survivor Gold was bottle fed for the first few weeks of his life because his mother had a condition that prevented her to nurse the foal. He was later put in training by Matthews and developed into a racehorse.
During his career, Survive This won 10 races in 76 career starts, taking a career best time of 1:54.4 at Indiana Downs under the direction of driver Ross Leonard in 2007. He also marked a milestone for Matthews in the process.
Matthews and Leonard team up to care for a stable of 12-15 horses on Hoosier Park’s backstretch. When she gets time off, Matthews enjoys taking “Meatball,” as he is affectionately known around the barn, for trail rides.
Local Sports
Big Money across the board in Dan Patch
- Local Sports
-
-
Tribe triumphs
The Anderson Lady Tribe brought their best defense in Friday night’s semifinal battle against New Castle and rolled to a 56-31 victory to advance to the final of Class 4A Sectional 9 against Pendleton Heights.
-
Wertz rallies Arabians to final
Pendleton Heights junior guard Tiffany Wertz sparked a fourth-quarter rally in girls sectional basketball play Friday and lifted the Arabians into tonight’s title game. PH scored 29 points in the fourth quarter and erased a six-point deficit with five minutes to play in a 63-51 win over Richmond.
-
Broncos advance to finals
Daleville’s girls basketball team pounded Wes-Del for a third time this season, defeating the Warriors 39-11 to earn a berth in the sectional championship tonight against Southern Wells.
-
Winchester's final run fells Frankton
Girls basketball season came to an end Friday for the Frankton Eagles, but it didn’t end quietly. Frankton fell to the Winchester Golden Falcons 60-51 in the Class 2A Sectional 40 semifinals at Shenandoah High School.
-
Elwood better but can't best Tipton
While the final score of 80-46 may not indicate it, there were some improvements for the Elwood girls basketball team in its rematch against the Tipton Blue Devils on Friday night in the semifinals of the Class 2A Sectional 39 at Madison-Grant.
-
Argylls' season runs out of gas in semis
It would not be too hard to pinpoint exactly when things went wrong for the Madison-Grant girls basketball team Friday night in its sectional semifinal game against Eastern. However, identifying the cause of the team’s struggles would be more difficult. The Argylls’ hung tough for three quarters of the game, but fell apart in the fourth with a perfect storm of problems, resulting to a 56-38 loss to end their season.
-
Indians advance to finals
Photos from the sectional semifinal at Greenfield-Central on Friday.
-
Arabians come from behind to beat Red Devils
Photos from the sectional semifinal at Greenfield-Central on Friday.
-
Bearcats upend AHS
Often basketball is a simple game, and it was certainly true for the Anderson boys basketball team here Thursday night. “We had too many turnovers — that’s the game,” said AHS coach Joe Nadaline after the Indians lost to Muncie Central 54-46 for their eighth straight defeat.
-
Bulldogs topple Raiders, win 9th in a row
The Bulldogs keep on rolling. Lapel (16-3) led from start to finish as it beat visiting Shenandoah 69-47 Thursday night to push its winning streak to nine games.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
