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Ever Wonder wins Checkered Flag Stakes at Indiana Grand

Ever Wonder and Eddie Perez made it a gate-to-wire win in the first running of the $75,000 Checkered Flag Stakes Wednesday at Indiana Grand.

 

The duo covered the six-furlong sprint in a time of 1:09.25 to set the benchmark for the new stakes race at Indiana Grand.

 

Starting from post five, Ever Wonder was on top of the field of eight in the first few jumps with open lengths to the field behind her. Serena Beck and Santo Sanjur left the gate from the outside post to get good early positioning and was joined by Hungarian Princess and Sammy Bermudez as they tracked Ever Wonder on the front end.

 

The remainder of the field was gapping behind the top three in the early stages of the race.

 

Perez kept the six-year-old mare focused as they made their way around the only turn of the race. In the stretch, the daughter of Jersey Town was strong, remaining at task and drawing away with every stride. She hit the wire eight-and-one-half-lengths ahead of the field for the win, her first of the year and her first career stakes title.

 

Hungarian Princess finished second over Serena Beck on the sloppy surface.

 

“We got the lead nice and easy today,” said Perez. “And, she always has a big finish. She tries hard every time. She’s a nice little mare.”

 

Perez was the first jockey aboard her when she broke her maiden in her very first start at Indiana Grand in 2017. He has guided her to victory in seven of her nine career wins.

 

Ever Wonder was the favorite of the field, paying $4.20 for the win. She is owned by Mast Thoroughbreds and trained by Robert Gorham and has been with the stable her entire career.

 

“We bought her as a weanling,” said Gorham. “It’s actually a funny story. We were two barns over and Henry Mast, my longtime partner, said ‘that’s that Indiana filly” going through the sale. I told him we’ll just tip our hand and buy her, so we bought her sight unseen.”

 

Ever Wonder increased her career bankroll to more than $269,000. The Indiana bred was purchased as a weanling for $5,000 from breeder Dawn Martin.

 

“She trains lightly,” added Gorham. “She’s a three-quarter horse, so we always train her between five-and-a-half and three-quarters, and they just try to find the right spots for her. She is a mature mare running against some three-year-olds today, so that helped. But she always tries. She tries right down to when she gets tired.”

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