Green sophomore Bam Bam learning to race in Hoosier Park early series action
by James Platz
Entering the month of April at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino, sophomore pacing colt Bam Bam was a new name that had yet to show up in the program. By month’s end, the previously unraced Erv Miller trainee had become one of the stars of the early series action at the Anderson oval. Tonight, the Tellitlikeitis—Podges Lady gelding puts his three-race win streak on the line in the second leg of the Hal Dale series.
“He’s doing good,” the trainer said. “The first couple starts we were a little bumpy there. He got a little too keyed up and stuff, but overall, he’s really coming along good now.”
A $46,000 yearling purchase for the partnership of Anthony Lombardi, Andy Willinger, and Engel Stable of Illinois, Bam Bam did not see a starting gate last season. Training down in anticipation of his freshman campaign, the pacer lagged behind his counterparts in the Miller stable. The veteran conditioner turned him out and pointed to the 2026 season.
“He was just a real immature colt, and actually we got lucky,” Miller said. “He grew up really nice. He was small last year, kind of choppy gaited. When I left Florida, he was probably 10 seconds behind the rest of them. I just decided instead of trying to force him through it, I’d just turn him out. I sent him to the farm, and then we picked him back up in September or October. He really looked good when he came in. He probably grew a hand, four inches or so, and he just looked a lot better, and had a good gait on him then. It just ended up working out good for him.”
Atlee Bender, Miller’s son-in-law, recalled Bam Bam’s early struggles.
“When he was a baby down in Florida, he was just really lazy and immature,” Bender said. “He was sound, there was nothing wrong with him. He didn’t want to train or put anything together, so we just turned him out. He stayed in Indianapolis all winter. He never went to Florida, and I trained him before I went to Florida.”
While Bender worked with the newest crop of babies this winter in the Sunshine State, Bam Bam was in training back home in Indiana. When he returned earlier this year, he found a different horse in the barn.
“He was just so lazy before,” Bender said. “He wouldn’t go by anybody. He wouldn’t tighten the lines at all. Coming back, he wasn’t aggressive, but he was right there on the bit, and he wanted to do it. It kind of surprised me. Carlos, the guy that trained him all winter, did a good job.”
Bam Bam qualified in mid-March at Hoosier Park, turning in a mile that saw him race sixth throughout before pacing home in :27.1 to win in 1:59. Guided by Bender, the sophomore made his debut in the opening leg of the Jerry Landess series. He raced second, again coming off the pace, but this time closing with a :25.3 last quarter.
“In the first race, I was racing him from behind,” Bender said. “It was his first lifetime start. I didn’t want to do anything crazy with him. He came home in 25 and change. He was just marching at the end.”
Bam Bam returned the next time out to capture a Landess series split in 1:53.4. In that race, Bender said the sophomore was anxious going to the gate and aggressive in the early going. The team made some equipment changes in response.
“We re-rigged him, changed his bridle, and fed him into the gate late,” Bender said. “We treated him like an aggressive horse. He’s been rock solid ever since.”
Bam Bam annexed the $20,000 Landess final with a 3½-length score, tripping the timer in 1:52.4.
“He’s doing good,” Miller said. “He’s kind of settled in and figured out what it’s like to be a racehorse.”
Last week Bam Bam added his third-straight win, doing so with slightly different tactics. Whereas Bender had kept the gelding out of contention until later in the mile, he pushed the pacer to the front as the field raced to the half in a Hal Dale division. Reaching the half in :57.4, Bam Bam clicked off a :29.3 third panel before sprinting home in :26.1. The winning margin in the $12,000 contest was one length.
“Last week, I raced him on the front end, and he got a little lost up there,” Bender said. “He’s still very green. He only has a couple starts under his belt.”
With three wins in four starts and $23,500 on his card, Bam Bam appears to be pointed in the right direction. After tonight’s Hal Dale leg the final awaits next week. Then the focus shifts to Indiana Sires Stakes action, with the first leg slated for Memorial Day.
“I think he definitely has the ability,” Bender said. “He’s got a big gait. He can really carry his speed. He hasn’t really been in a fast race where he busts down to the half real fast. We’ll see what he’s got. It’s going to get tougher.”
Jumping into Sires Stakes, Bam Bam will have to tangle with 2-year-old champion Odds On Mr Mamba and a host of others, including stablemate JK The Great, a sires stakes leg winner at 2 with a mark of 1:51.1 and timed in 1:49.2. Miller believes the gelding has the talent, but he still has work to do over the next few weeks in anticipation of that step up to the state’s top program.
“You know, we’re just borderline there, because it’s going to take a good horse,” Miller said. “There are some good 3-year-old Indiana-breds out there, but if he keeps going like he is right now, I think we’ve got a shot.”
