Sweet N Speedy another top pacer for veteran owner Larry Bond

by James Platz

Pacing mare Sweet N Speedy didn’t waste any time collecting the first win of her 2026 campaign. The 4-year-old, driven by Travis Seekman, claimed victory in her debut, a gate-to-wire triumph, Thursday evening (Feb. 12), on the opening night program at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. While not in attendance for the debut, owner Larry Bond was pleased with the effort, which pushed the mare’s earnings closer to the $100,000 mark.

“She leaves the gate flying,” the owner said. “She can’t get enough of that. She just takes off like a shot when that gate pulls away, and that’s what she did for Travis. After she got on top, she stayed right there and finished strong, and I thought it was very impressive.”

It is fitting that Bond, a retired dermatologist and medical director, is once again enjoying success with a pacing filly. After all, his first foray in the business came with a filly which set the bar very high going forward. As he explains, his father, Eugene, was a horse enthusiast with a modest income. Larry himself was just starting his career when presented with a unique opportunity to buy a yearling filly for $2,000. He called his father in hopes of forming a partnership.

“I’d been in the Air Force,” Larry said. “And I’d saved my money when I was in the Air Force. And I said, ‘I can pay for the filly, if you’d be willing to split the training costs with me. And we’ll just go 50-50 and we’ll see what you can do.’ So, he thought about it for a week or so. He finally called back and said, ‘Well, I’m going to do it. Your mother and I have talked about it and we’re going to do it.’”

That yearling filly turned out to be Majette, who would go on to be named the sport’s top 2-year-old pacing filly in 1969. The next season the Majestic Hanover—Princess Patty filly finished second in the voting for 3-year-old honors. Majette finished her career with a 1:59.3 mark, taken as a freshman, and $84,662 on her card.

“I’ve stayed in the business since that time, and I’ve had quite a few standardbreds,” Larry said. “And I’ll tell you, I never had another Majette.”

Being approached with an offer to buy is what brought the octogenarian into the business. Asking whether a horse was for sale is what brought Sweet N Speedy into the fold over five decades later. The longtime Frankfort, IN resident was on hand when fair racing made a stop in Clinton County at his home track in July 2024. That day he watched as trainer/driver Clint Coy dominated the field, winning by more than 10 lengths. Larry took note and took action.

“I went back to the barn to see if I could look at her, and the groom was there,” he said. “I talked with the groom, and she showed me the filly, and I kind of looked her over, and I liked her. So, I went back to my pickup truck, and I tore off a piece out of my program, and I wrote on there that I was interested in buying this filly if you were willing to consider a sale. I put a price on that, and I had the young lady take it back to the owner. He called me right away the next day as I recall, and we agreed on a price, and I bought her.”

Sweet N Speedy, an Odds On Equuleus filly from Bettors Delight mare Ghost Like, had won her first six starts. Transferred to the barn of Larry’s longtime trainer, Joe Seekman, the freshman finished the season a perfect nine-for-nine at the fairs, winning the $25,000 Governor’s Cup championship by four lengths in 1:55.3.

“She just was unbeatable,” the owner said. “She was winning all of the county fair races that she was in, and then the Governor’s Cup at the Indiana State Fairground came up, and she won it very handily as well. We just had an awful lot of fun watching her race.”

Last season, Sweet N Speedy hit the board in 12 of 20 starts, winning seven times. A majority of those victories again came on the fair circuit, and at one point, she scored four straight. The sophomore successfully repeated in the Governor’s Cup, this time by a winning margin of 6¼ lengths. She would take her 1:52 mark at Hoosier Park in June competing in an Indiana Sires Stakes eligible event.

Following the fairs, Sweet N Speedy returned to the Anderson oval but struggled to finish in the money. After three lackluster attempts, she was turned out for the year. Sweet N Speedy added $56,706 in seasonal earnings to bring her two-season total to $88,006.

“We tried her a few times, and she didn’t race well, and we couldn’t figure out what the problem was,” Larry said. “We had the vet look at her, and they couldn’t come up with any reason why she wasn’t racing well. So, we just quit and turned her out. I have a farm here and I just turned her out here for a while, and then we put her back in training. This was her first race since we put her back in training and I was tickled to death to see her race well.”

Making her seasonal debut in the penultimate event on Hoosier’s 14-race opening night card, Sweet N Speedy was assigned the outside post in the scratch-shortened field of seven. When the wings folded, Travis Seekman sent her to the front where the 4-year-old set fractions of :28.2, :59.1, and 1:28.2 before reaching the wire in 1:55.4. Sweet N Speedy’s margin was nearly five lengths in winning for the 17th time in 30 starts. The victory pushed her career bankroll to $93,506, and is a great way to start the 2026 campaign.

“It tickled me to death to see her leave that gate and finish strong,” Larry said. “And that’s the way she always raced at 2 and 3. She could fly when the gate opened, and that’s what she did [Thursday] night.”