Hooley hopeful for Indiana Sires Stakes with Temporal Hanover tandem
by James Platz
Indiana fair circuit racing kicked off in the Crossroads of America in early June, with the first two rounds of competition conducted at the Converse Fairgrounds. Action switched to Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino last week, with fair contests for freshman and sophomore trotters and pacers sprinkled across four programs at the Anderson oval. Freshman Diamond Popper captured one of the divisions for 2-year-old trotters on the Tuesday (June 16) program for trainer Byron Hooley.
Diamond Popper passed through the sales ring at last year’s Midwest Standardbred Horse Sale, but only managed a $10,000 bid, was bought back by breeder John Lengacher, Jr. The colt, second foal from Credit Winner mare Etra De Vie, is from the eagerly-awaited first crop of Temporal Hanover. Hooley worked out a deal to purchase the colt privately after the sale.
“He said the colt didn’t bring what he wanted, so they brought him home, and I latched onto him,” said the owner/trainer. “He’s happy, and so am I. Some of those guys don’t have the big consignments and the advertisements like a lot of them do, and so I think he just kind of got lost there, and I like the Credit Winner. So, I took a chance on him.”
Making his debut June 4 at Converse, Diamond Popper nearly broke his maiden. Steered by Hooley’s son, Derek, the freshman engaged with Rebuff colt Skyway Storm in a spirited sprint to the finish before finishing a head back in 2:09.4.
“A month and a half ago, I had a lot of questions on him,” the conditioner said. “He’s pretty young [a May 18 foal], and he just seemed like a young 2-year-old. These last three, four weeks, he just seems to be blooming and blossoming. He has fun doing it, he’s very easy to train, easy to be around, and he’s still a colt. I left him a colt. I didn’t have any reason to geld him at this point.”
Hooley, who races under the banner of Summit Pacing Acres, didn’t have to wait long to reach the winner’s circle. Making his next start in a $3,800 contest at Converse, the young trotter wired the field to win by three-parts-of-a-length in 2:06. Diamond Popper’s time was the fastest of seven divisions for freshman trotters.
“I put trotting hobbles on him about three weeks ago, and that really helped him,” Hooley said. “He gained a lot of confidence, so that was a big step. I think that helped him a lot.”
Transitioning away from the half-mile fair tracks and smaller fields, Diamond Popper was saddled with post position 8 in a field of nine Tuesday at Hoosier Park. Hooley called upon John De Long, currently second in the driver standings, to pilot his charge. Sent off as the narrow favorite over Doug Rideout’s Hidden Talent, De Long sent the trotter to the lead from the outside, clicking off a :30.2 first panel.
The duo dictated the tempo through fractions of 1:01.2 and 1:31.3. Up by more than four lengths at the top of the stretch, Diamond Popper cruised to a three-length margin over Hidden Talent at the wire, tripping the timer in 2:01.1. The mile was once again the fastest fair split for trotting colts.
“He seemed to go up to the gate nicely and had a good sense about it,” Hooley said. “John DeLong always does a good job. Leaving from the 8-hole, I had no clue how that was going to be. That’s usually kind of a tough position. So that was a positive for him. He seemed to handle that and went to the top. It would have been nice to follow a horse, but I don’t think he’s going to be gate crazy where you leave with him a time or two and he’s going to get stupid. I think he’s very manageable. Derek drove him two starts at the fairs and he said that’s what he liked about him. He’s very drivable and had a good head on him. He wasn’t dashing here and there.”
With only a head separating the colt from a perfect three-for-three record, Hooley has Indiana Sires Stakes aspirations for his pupil. The first leg is slated for Thursday (July 9), and the owner knows that some of the better trotters are just now qualifying, or will do so in short order.
“I think I’ll probably give him a shot and see where he fits,” he said. “I think he’s going to be competitive.”
Hooley also has a Temporal Hanover filly that he is similarly pointing to sires stakes action. Satin Serenade is a homebred out of the owner’s champion trotter, Satin Dancer. On the track, Satin Dancer hit the board in 46 of 64 career starts, with 29 wins and earnings of $739,640. The Grand Circuit winner captured the Indiana Sires Stakes Super Final at 2, and was runner-up at three in a season where she finished first or second in 16 of 19 attempts, with 12 trips to the winner’s circle. At age 4, Satin Dancer turned in a 1:51 effort in the Vincennes at The Meadowlands, trotting a neck behind winner Muscle Diamond.
“My goal with her is I’ve got her staked pretty heavily,” Hooley said. “I broke her and raised her, so I knew her from day one. She had a lot of Satin Dancer in her. Matter of fact, I took a picture of Satin Dancer’s head and took a picture of her head. They both have two swirls. They’re identical, I mean they’re in the exact same place. I thought, well, if she’s a remnant of what mom’s all about, I could handle that.”
In two starts at Converse, Satin Serenade registered a pair of runner-up finishes. In her debut she finished a neck behind fellow Temporal Hanover filly Sassytemper. On June 11, she was headed by Rebuff filly Rebuffpinklady in 2:01.3. The time established a new Converse track record. Satin Serenade was set for her first start over the Hoosier Park oval Thursday evening, drawing post 2 in the night’s fifth race. Severe storms in central Indiana forced track management to cancel after four races.
Satin Serenade is the fourth foal from the mare, who has two winners to her credit but has yet to produce a foal that emulates her ability as a racehorse. Hooley sold the previous foals, but has opted to campaign this filly, sending her to Travis Alexander to train over the winter. He hopes she can be competitive in the state’s top program and beyond.
“I think she’s going to be okay,” Hooley said. “You never know as time goes along. Right now, I wouldn’t want to have her in anybody else’s barn, let’s put it that way.”
