History was made at Harrah's Hoosier Park on Thursday, Oct. 2 as Odds On Mr Mamba became the fastest 2-year-old in harness racing history with his 1:47 4/5 victory in his division of the last leg of the Indiana Sire Stakes for rookie pacing males. Dexter Dunn was in the bike for trainer Melanie Wrenn.
Leaving from post two in the $66,000 event, which served as the evening's first race, Odds On Mr Mamba and Dunn were established as the 1-9 favorite by the bettors in the field of six. Odds On Mr Mamba floated off the wings and settled into third early while Dancingdreamer (David Miller) hustled to the top from post five to cut the opening quarter in a hot 26 seconds. Once on the backstretch, Dunn angled Odds On Mr Mamba off the cones and worked his way to the lead around Dancingdreamer just after reaching the half in 54 1/5. Once clear, Odds On Mr Mamba raced into the far turn with he and Dancingdreamer beginning to get some separation from the rest of the field at three-quarters in 1:21 4/5.
Turning for home, Dunn lightly chased along Odds On Mr Mamba as Dancingdreamer continued to give pursuit from second. With the ear plugs still in, Odds On Mr Mamba scorched home in 26 seconds to win by 1 1/4 lengths over Dancingdreamer. Swiss Lights (Ricky Macomber Jr.) sprinted home to be third, 4 1/2 lengths behind the winner.
The Odds On Racing homebred gelding by Odds On Equuleus and out of the stakes winning mare Honky Tonk Woman has won six straight after a fourth-place effort in his career debut. Odds On Mr Mamba now sports earnings of $189,405 following the historic victory.
The 1:47 4/5 clocking lowered the world record for a 2-year-old gelding pacer previously held by Elver Hanover of 1:48 3/5 in a 2019 victory at The Red Mile. Odds On Mr Mamba also took over the title of the fastest 2-year-old in the sport's history from the colt Sippinonsearoc, who went in 1:48 2/5 last fall at The Red Mile.
The previous fastest mile by a 2-year-old at Harrah's Hoosier Park was 1:49 2/5, a mark Odds On Mr Mamba previously shared with Fullfulnmydestiny and My Girl EJ.
The $66,500 second division for pacing males went to What Nooo Waaay and driver John De Long in wire-to-wire fashion as the 6-5 favorite. Leaving from post five, the revved-up Ron Burke trainee took command of the field through a sizzling 26 second opening quarter. He kept the six chasers strung out behind him as De Long kept the accelerator down through middle- half fractions of 54 3/5 and 1:22 4/5. Once in the stretch, What Nooo Waaay opened up with a 28 second final quarter under De Long urging to win by 2 1/2 lengths in a career-best 1:50 4/5. Bro Romey (Atlee Bender) rallied for second, with Tell's Pure Power (Ricky Macomber Jr.) finishing third.
What Nooo Waaay has now won three of eight on the year, only missing the board once while racking up $127,470 in earnings. The Check Six-Tiffany Rocks As colt is a homebred for the Burke Racing Stable, William Switala, James Martin and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
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Burke and De Long also teamed up earlier in the evening with the streaking On To Norway, who headlined the second of three $34,250 Sire Stakes tests for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings as he made it 16 straight victories on the year. On To Norway floated away in third from the rail while High Speed Swan (Atlee Bender) laid down a 27 2/5 opening quarter. De Long wheeled the 1-9 favorite first-over on the backstretch, taking command just beyond the half of 56 1/5 before opening up by 2 1/2 lengths at three-quarters in 1:25 3/5. From there, On To Norway coasted home a wrapped-up four length winner to stop the clock in 1:52 4/5. Fruit Snacker (Marcus Miller) got by High Speed Swan late to be second.
The win streak began for On To Norway following a second-place effort in his 3-year-old debut, and he now sports seasonal earnings of $301,844 for owners Burke Racing Stable, Frank Baldachino, Michael Rosenthal and Black And White Stable. Bennett Farms Inc. of MI bred the gelded son of Muscle Massive-One Class Act who has won 20 of 26 lifetime and surpassed $325,000 in career earnings.
Driver Kyle Wilfong took the other two divisions for sophomore trotting males as part of a six-win night for him, taking the first with Operator as the 2-5 favorite. Operator got away second from the rail in the scratched-down field of five as Eugene The Genius (Dexter Dunn) wheeled to the top through a quarter of 28 seconds. Wilfong moved Operator to the top on the backstretch, reaching the halfway point in 56 4/5 before trotting to three-quarters in 1:25 3/5. Sprinting home in 27 seconds in the final stanza, Operator had to fend off a hard-charging Major Velocity (Clint Coy), who got within a neck of Operator on the wire. Eugune The Genius was third in the 1:52 3/5 mile, only a half-length back in a three-across battle to the line.
Trained by Jay Hochstetler, Operator has won half of his 10 starts this season and banked $161,125 in 2025 for owners Connie and Homer Hochstetler, Robert Buddig and Allen Schwartz. Bred by Christopher Nisley, the gelded son of You Know You Do-Crazyasclassic is an eight-time winner for his career with lifetime earnings of now more than $240,000.
In the third and final stakes grouping for trotting colts and geldings, Wilfong guided Sure Did to a career-best victory as the 9-5 second choice. Sure Did got away sixth in the field of seven while 3-5 favorite Massive Desire (Trace Tetrick) steamrolled to the top through an opening quarter of 27 1/5. Bellsforall (Kevin Lambright) was parked and pressing on the backstretch, getting released to the top just past the half of 55 4/5 before rolling to three-quarters in 1:25 1/5 with Sure Did being towed into it from second-over in fifth. Sure Did pounced from off cover, trotting home in 28 1/5 and getting the jump on Massive Desire, who got hung up behind the retreating Bellsforall before coming up three-parts of a length short to Sure Did in a 1:54 1/5 mile. RJ Don't Peachim (LeWayne Miller) got up for third at 13-1.
Walter Haynes Jr. trains Sure Did, who has now won two of four on the year for owners Matthew Miller and John McGill. Bred by John Bontrager Jr., the gelded son of You Know You Do-Challax Hanover is now a six-time career winner with lifetime earnings of $145,893.
Wilfong's four other wins on the night came with Josie Rocksmyworld ($5.20, 1:53 2/5), Big Swig ($13.80, 1:54 4/5), Starlit Dan Dover ($71.40, 1:56 1/5) and Brooke's Ocean ($6, 1:53 4/5).
Indiana Sire Stakes action concludes for the week on Friday, Oct. 3 with a 14-race card set to get underway at 5:30 p.m. (EDT). The card features two divisions each of the last sire stakes legs for 3-year-old male and filly pacers, along with $20,000 eliminations for aged trotting mares and aged pacing males. Friday night serves as the final tune-up for the $2.2 million Hoosier Champions night on Friday, Oct. 10.
The Friday card also includes a $10,000 Guaranteed early Pick 5 (races 1-5) with a $2,500 carryover, to go along with a $10,000 guaranteed late Hoosier High 5 (race 14) done in partnership with the USTA's Strategic Wagering program.
--press release (Harrah's Hoosier Park)--