Round five of eight of Indiana Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacing fillies served as the feature on Friday (July 25) at Harrah's Hoosier Park with Miss Fancy Nancy and Tarshish maintaining their razor-sharp form of late in their respective divisions.
Miss Fancy Nancy left from the outside post seven in the $49,000 first division with regular pilot Trace Tetrick in the bike. Tetrick floated the 2-5 favorite into fourth in the early stages while CC Rockin Rosie (John De Long) rocketed off the wings to take control of the field through a wicked 25 4/5 first quarter. There was no let up in the middle-half for CC Rockin Rosie, racing to the half in 53 4/5 before scorching to three-quarters in 1:21 2/5 when Miss Fancy Nancy eased off the cones from fourth.
The hot early fractions began to take their toll on CC Rockin Rosie while Miss Fancy Nancy charged to the lead midway through the lane. Pacing home in 27 3/5, Miss Fancy Nancy surged to victory by 2 3/4 lengths in a career-best 1:50 2/5. Heart Song (Marcus Miller) rallied for the show spot, with a gutsy CC Rockin Rosie holding for the show spot.
Miss Fancy Nancy is yet to miss the board in 2025 through eight starts and has won five of six since moving to the Tyler George barn. Owned by Tonya Nichols, Joe Sbrocco, VIP Internet Stable and Jaf Racing, the daughter of JK Endofanera-Singit Like Aretha has banked $63,585 on the season. The victory was one of five on the night for Trace Tetrick, three of which came for the George Stable.
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Can'ttouchthese and Tarshish, who went one-two in last fall's $250,000 Super Final, hooked up for a second time this season in the other $48,500 division, with Tarshish getting the better of Can'ttouchthese in a stretch duel that lived up to the hype.
Leaving from the rail as the 2-1 second choice, Tarshish and driver Marvin Luna got away third while Can'ttouchthese (John De Long) raced to the outside of Wunderkindbluechip (Atlee Bender) to reach the quarter first in 26 1/5. Can'ttouchthese cleared to the lead on the backstretch, with De Long grabbing leather to the half in 55 seconds. Luna wheeled Tarshish first-over on the final turn, steamrolling to look Can'ttouchthese in the eye at three-quarters in 1:23 3/5.
Tarshish grabbed a short lead at the top of the stretch, with Can'ttouchthese continuing to battle to her inside. With both fillies pacing home in 26 4/5, Tarshish got to the wire a half-length clear of a valiant Can'ttouchthese to score in 1:50 2/5, Wunderkindbluechip finished third, 3 3/4 lengths back of the winner.
Owned by Joanne Samples and trained by Walter Haynes Jr., Tarshish has now won seven of eight and four straight on the season while banking $116,750 in 2025. The daughter of Luck B Withyou-The Party's Rockin has won nine of 17 lifetime and surpassed a quarter-million dollars in career earnings with the win.
In addition to Indiana Sire Stakes, Little Rocket Man delivered another punishing display of speed in what maybe his final tune up for the $300,000 Dan Patch Stakes on Friday, Aug. 8.
Leaving from the outside post five, Little Rocket Man and driver Mike Oosting battled to the outside of Coach Stefanos (Marcus Miller) through a sizzling opening quarter of 26 seconds. Little Rocket Man cleared to the top before reaching the half in 53 3/5, maintaining his lead to three-quarters in 1:21 4/5 with a revved-up Coach Stefanos still stalking intently from the pocket. Little Rocket Man would quickly dash the hopes of his pursuers in the lane, scampering away with a 26 2/5 final quarter to extend his lead to 3 3/4 lengths on the wire to stop the clock in 1:48 1/5. Golden Bay N (Trace Tetrick) rallied for second, with Buzzsaw Russ (John De Long) rallying for third in his first start off a several month layoff.
Trained by Ken Rucker, Littler Rocket Man has won eight of 10 in 2025, banking $139,260 on the year for owners Russ Beeman and Boomer Freeman. The 9-year-old gelded son of Rockin Image-GT Miss Royal has won 76 of 129 lifetime, hitting the board in 101 of those outings while banking $1.82 million.
Racing continues at Harrah's Hoosier Park on Saturday (July 26) with a 14-race card featuring two divisions of Indiana Sire Stakes for 2-year-old trotting fillies. The Saturday card also includes $7,500 guarantee in the late Hoosier High 5 (race 14) done in partnership with the USTA's Strategic Wagering Program. The Saturday card gets underway with a first post of 5:30pm.
Saturday will also serve as the sixth annual Empire of Hope at Harrah's Hoosier Park, an event dedicated to raising funds for the Standardbred Transition Alliance and the aftercare of retired Standardbreds. There will be a wide variety of fundraising promotions during the evening, headed by Charity Chariots in the Hoosier Park front paddock from 4-6pm where guests may take a lap around the oval behind a Standardbred for a $20 donation.
--press release (Harrah's Hoosier Park)--