Not ‘Mamba,’ but no slouch: streaking Aces And Cinches rolls into INSS leg 6

by James Platz

Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino will host the $94,500 sixth leg of Indiana Sires Stakes for sophomore pacing colts Thursday (July 30), and one of the favorites in the seven-horse field is a son of Odds On Equuleus. No, it’s not North America Cup champion Odds On Mr Mamba. Instead, it is the streaking Aces And Cinches, riding a two-race tear for trainer Ron Burke in sires stakes action.

The son of the aforementioned Odds On Equuleus from the Roll With Joe mare Gypsy Bellevue began the season in the barn of trainer Daryl Bontrager. Under his care, Aces And Cinches recorded a win and a pair of third-place finishes in five attempts. Purchased by the partnership of Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Frank Baldachino, and Michael Rosenthal, the colt was moved to Burke’s Indiana string, headed by Adam Rucker.

“We changed his shoes immediately,” Rucker said. “It was the first thing we did. I talked to Ronnie about that on the phone. He had degree shoes on all the way around, which really raises the horse’s angles up. We got the shoes off and checked his angles and they were in our ballpark range where we like our horses. So, we just corrected some shoeing on him and he was good from day one.”

Aces And Cinches began training with What Nooo Waaay, runner-up to Odds On Mr Mamba in the opening leg, and Rucker liked what he saw in the new acquisition. After those initial training miles, it was decided to drop him into the second leg of sires stakes action. It would be his first taste of top-level competition this season.

“The second trip, I loved him and I just said, this horse is all right,” Rucker said of his first impressions. “He trained good. He’s a stud. He’s very big, very kind, and easy to get along with.”

Making his debut for the Burke stable, Aces And Cinches and driver Kyle Wilfong raced off the pace throughout the mile. Fifth in the stretch, the two kicked home in :25.4 to finish third while clocking a 1:50.1 mile.

“We didn’t over race him, we just took him off,” the conditioner said. “And he finished real good and went a big mile. After the race Kyle said, ‘This horse is all right.’”

Odds On Mr Mamba was absent from the second leg. After claiming the first round, he headed to Canada for the North America Cup. In leg 3, he returned, making an already competitive division that much deeper. Aces And Cinches and Wilfong lined up in post 8, and went off at odds of 56-1.

“We drew the outside and all the favorites were inside,” Rucker said. “We were kind of like, let’s just see if he races the same way and races good again.”

He backed up the previous start with another good outing. Aces And Cinches finished fourth in the contest, crossing the wire behind winner Swiss Lights, Dancingdreamer, and Odds On Mr Mamba, yet he recorded a 1:49.4 clocking, his fastest yet.

Due to the presence of Odds On Mr Mamba and others in the division, sires stakes legs have not attracted enough entries to require multiple divisions. As a result, every point is valuable, and after two starts, Aces And Cinches had enough to his credit to qualify for October’s $250,000 Super Final. With ‘Mamba’ on the road again for the Adios eliminations and final, the opportunity to score more points was available. Aces And Cinches seized the moment, collecting back-to-back wins, and now sits second in points with 124. He trails only Swiss Lights (142 points), a starter in each leg this season.

Drawing the outside in post 6 for the July 3 leg, the team switched up tactics just to see how Aces And Cinches would fare on the lead. He didn’t disappoint. Not only did the sophomore set the tempo throughout the circuit, he finished off the 1:48.1 mile with a :26.2 last quarter. The winning margin was more than four lengths.

“We trained him up a little harder,” Rucker said. “I was talking to Ronnie and he said, ‘Well, let’s just be aggressive with him tonight and see what we have.’ And that’s the night he went in [1]:48.1.”

Returning two weeks later, Aces And Cinches lined up behind the starting gate, tabbed as the favorite for the first time. This time Wilfong guided him to a spot in fourth along the rail after starting fifth in the field of six. Moving first up on the way to three-quarters, the sophomore closed in :26.4 to finish a half-length ahead of Swiss Lights, timed in 1:48.2.

“Daryl’s done a nice job bringing this horse up,” Rucker said. “He’s just very easy on himself. He’s got a very nice mouth. He sleeps a lot. He’s like a kitten in the barn. You don’t have to ever put a lead shank on him to take him out of the stall or put him on a horse trailer.”

In a little more than a month, the pacer has earned $113,000 for his connections while stamping himself as one of the top contenders in a tough group. Thursday, Aces And Cinches will have a chance to build on that momentum in yet another difficult test. Drawing post 6 in a field of seven, the race will again be without Odds On Mr Mamba, but will include leg winners Swiss Lights and Door Dash. To his outside is Dancingdreamer, transferred to the barn of defending Hoosier Park leading trainer Tyler George since finishing fourth in the last leg. The competition doesn’t get easier the rest of the way.

“This is a very strong group,” Rucker said. “This week Tyler George has Dancingdreamer, so that could mix things up a little bit. And then when Mamba comes back, four of these colts can go with any 3-year-olds in the country. It’s just going to be post position and who gets the best trip.”