Somemore Blue puts unbeaten record on the line in Kentuckiana Stake
by James Platz
Tonight (Sept. 19), the Grand Circuit rolls into Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino as the Anderson, IN oval features a card packed with open stakes action. Traditionally, this is an opportunity for some of the top local trotters and pacers to square off against competition from other jurisdictions. Somemore Blue will get that opportunity in the evening’s 12th race, the $201,000 Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stake for freshman filly pacers. Conditioned by Erv Miller, Somemore Blue enters the event a perfect seven-for-seven in 2025.
“She’s just getting stronger and a little smarter, too, about what she does,” her trainer said. “But pretty much it shows on her lines so far what she’s made of. She’s just been consistent. Some of the other fillies are catching up a little closer. But so far we haven’t had to push her too hard to get it done.”
Outside of her first taste of Grand Circuit action in August at the Indiana State Fair, Somemore Blue has raced exclusively at Hoosier Park. Miller’s son, Marcus, has been at the controls for each victory, putting her on the front and managing to collect wins while only asking for what is needed. To date, the Rockin Image—Misssomebeach Blue lass has yet to win a race by more than three lengths.
“I think she’s just an exceptional filly,” Erv said. “She’s a little above all the other ones we’ve got too. She’s just really, really been good from day one; from the time we started racing.”
That’s high praise from a trainer that, until earlier this month, also counted Topville Lucky as a contender in the stable. After winning multiple Kentucky Championship Series legs, the freshman was sold privately to Andrew Harris, William Pollock and Bruce Areman. She won Sunday’s $400,000 final for her new connections.
To date, Somemore Blue has banked $184,111 for the partnership of Doug Overhiser, Ken Duffy, Lava Java Stable, and Never 2 Late Stable. Not a bad return on a $35,000 initial investment at last fall’s Hoosier Classic Sale. Bred by Lavon Miller of In-Law Stables, the brown filly is the second foal from a Somebeachsomewhere mare that earned $300,000 on the racetrack before transitioning to broodmare duties. Her older sister, Lazarus mare Wall Of Blue, is also a $100,000 winner.
“She was a good-sized mare,” Erv said. “Nice deep chest. I could just tell in the video she was really athletic. That’s why I took a shot at her.”
She hasn’t disappointed to date. Tonight, Somemore Blue will compete in the deepest field she’s seen to date, both in terms of talent and starters. Throughout the season she has been forwardly placed early and quickly moved to the lead. The trainer said she races well off the pace, and this evening she may finally get a chance to show that dimension after drawing post 10, a second-tier position at Hoosier Park. Despite the spot off the gate, she is 5-2 on the morning line.
“You know, the 10-hole’s always a rough spot there because you’re at the mercy of what happens with the other horses early,” Erv said. “It’s not like you’re on the gate and you get a chance. You’ve basically got to take what happens. She’s a pretty strong mare. I think if she gets a decent trip, even if it’s not on the front, I think she’ll really race good. So, this might actually be a race where people get to see her race from off the pace a little bit.”
Erv shared that sickness has gone through the barn recently, and while some in the stable were impacted, Somemore Blue stayed relatively healthy.
“Even when she didn’t scope just 100 per cent the one start, she was still good,” he said. “We’ve had a virus go through the barn and a lot of them have been scoping bad. She seems to be a big strong mare. She’s been good about fighting it off so far.”
This edition of the Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stake is loaded with talent. Ron Burke will send out a pair of freshmen that have both reached the winner’s circle this season. Tell It Like This is an Indiana Sire Stakes winner with a 1:53 mark. She will line up second for Trace Tetrick while Shacarri and Chris Page have the outside post. The Summa Cum Laude sister to Louprint is second in the field in money earned ($134,075) and sports a 1:51.1 speed badge.
Papi Rob Hanover lass Imagine Heaven also has a 1:51.1 performance to her credit. She is one of two Hunter Oakes-trained pacers in the field. A winner in three of six starts, she will start from post 6 for driver Tyler Buter. The other Oakes entry, Tall Dark Tequila, lines up in post 7 for Jason Bartlett.
Woomp, another Indiana-sired product, continues to move up the ladder for trainer Roger Welch. Winning multiple INSS-eligible events, the Rockin Image homebred has improved in each sire stakes attempt, registering on-the-board finishes in the last three rounds, winning most recently in 1:51.3.
A victory tonight would break a long drought for Erv in the Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stakes. He captured the filly trotter division at Indiana Downs in 2006 with Apecs before returning the next season to annex the pacing division with Edra Hanover. The events moved to Hoosier Park in 2013. The Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stake for freshman filly pacers is the lead-in to the night’s feature, the $200,000 Caesars Trotting Classic, with post times for both races slated for 9:43 p.m. and 10:06 p.m., respectively.
