Guided by Joe Ramos, the six-year-old earned his fourth career stakes win and his second in the Bucchero run at one and one-sixteenth miles over the turf.
Starting from post four, Strong Tide (photo) got away in mid pack as Akamai and Rodney Prescott established themselves as the early leaders. Horses were bunched up tight in the first turn, causing Strong Tide to take it up a notch and get a better position inside to run. Down the backstretch, Mansfield Tiger and Sammy Bermudez were pressing the pace along the outside of Akamai with the remainder of the field staying close heading into the final turn.
In the stretch, Jeopardy Theory and Fernando De La Cruz had made their way from the inside path to the outside to make one final run. That opened up some room along the inside for Strong Tide to move through horses. Midway through the stretch, three horses were across the turf course vying for the lead. Strong Tide dug in a little deeper in the final strides for the win by a half length over Jeopardy Theory for second. Cash Logistics and James Graham finished third in the three-horse photo.
Strong Tide paid $3.40 to win as the race favorite. He is a homebred horse from the Mike and Penny Lauer operation. He earned his 10th career win and now has more than $760,000 on his card to move himself up into the top five all-time leading Indiana breds by earnings in state history.
“This horse is as easy and laid back as can be,” said Mike Lauer, who also conditioned his mother, Dreamin Big, to numerous stakes wins in Indiana. “A five-year-old could walk him around. He’s very easy to work with.”
Strong Tide is well traveled and has wins at three different racetracks, including Churchill Downs and Oaklawn Park. The Graded Stakes placed turf specialist came into the race from competing in the Grade 1 $1 million Arlington Million, which was moved to Colonial Downs. It was the first time Ramos, 2022 Leading Jockey at Horseshoe Indianapolis, had been aboard the veteran racehorse.
“I thank God for this, and I thank Mr. Mike (Lauer) for giving me this opportunity on such a nice horse,” said Ramos. “We got a beautiful trip today. In the first turn, we were in a tight position, and I grabbed him a little to put him in the clear, but at the half, he was dragging me wanting to go on. When we got to the three-quarter pole, I was looking where to go. Once we found a way to go, he took off and did his thing. He’s such a classy horse. He knows where the wire is. He knows how to win.”
Louder Than Words
Louder Than Words earned her first career stakes win Wednesday in the 20th running of the Peony at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The four-year-old filly has become a seasoned racehorse this year and is now on a four-race win streak with jockey Sammy Bermudez aboard.
Starting from post three in the one and one-sixteenth mile turf event, Louder Than Words (photo) held her ground early in the bulky field of 11 along the inside and got away in fifth as Sassy Katie and Eddie Perez moved out to lead the way through the first turn. Buried along the inside, racing room seemed to be the theme for Louder Than Words during the event. Around the final turn, she was still locked in along the inside, but Bermudez kept calm, waiting for the right opportunity to get out and get going.
In the stretch, that opportunity appeared and Bermudez was able to move Louder Than Words out and around opponents. Once clear, the Puerto Rican-born jockey asked her for a late kick and the filly gave it, striding by the last two horses late in the race to win by two and one-half lengths. Sassy Katie held her ground inside for second while Timeless Rose, a stablemate to Louder Than Words, moved in between horses for third for Fernando De La Cruz.
“This filly has been running great this year,” said Bermudez. “The first time out, she got outrun but it was by a nice horse (Bluelightspecial). After that, she woke up and she’s been great. Early on today, I was just trying to keep her up there, but we were inside the whole way. Around the turn, I was looking to for a spot to open up. Just past the quarter pole, we had a shot to get out and she took off. She raced really great today.”
Louder Than Words paid $16 for the win. The daughter of Mr Speaker, who was purchased for $4,700 in 2020 from the Indiana Mixed Fall Sale now has in excess of $350,000 on her card for owners Michael J. Wern, Bob Dhondt and Tony Granitz, who oversees the training duties of the filly.
“She put it all together today,” said Granitz. “I felt Timeless Rose was the one to beat, but today it was Louder Than Words’ day. She has really matured this year and she just keeps getting better and better with every start. I told Sammy (Bermudez) she was going to come rolling so to save her for the end. He timed it perfect. The race set up with a good pace today, too, for her to close.”
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