Mister Pollard and rider Ricardo Santana Jr. were much the best in the $150,000 Governor's Stakes, winning by 7 3/4 lengths at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino Aug. 6 (VIDEO).
The duo covered the mile-and-70-yard distance in a time of 1:41.64 as the second choice in the nine-horse field.
Starting from post nine could have proved to be a tough task for Mister Pollard. However, Santana, Jr. got him rolling early to be within striking distance of the pace, set early by Just a Morgan. Mister Pollard sat patiently in third behind Bourne Free through early fractions of :23.32, :47.59, and 1:12.37.
The 3-year-old son of Pollard's Vision began his move on the final turn and by the top of the stretch, was on the lead. That lead increased as he moved down the stretch as he was never challenged. Notionofmine and Fernando De La Cruz rallied up for second over Huntstown and Malcolm Franklin, who saved ground along the inside to finish third as the 2-1 choice.
"I had the best horse today," said Santana. "Because of the outside post, I didn't want to be in trouble. He was easy going the whole time and he was flying in the stretch."
Mister Pollard coasted to his first win of 2014 in his sixth try. Owned by Jim and Scott Farrar, Mike Johnson's Falcon Racing Stable, and Penny Lauer, he now has earned $240,159 in his career while posting a career line of 4-2-1 in 13 starts.
Mister Pollard has never finished worse than third over Indiana Grand's dirt surface in six lifetime starts for trainer Mike Lauer. His last start over the turf at Indiana Grand proved the change in surface did not agree with him.
"He didn't run well over the turf," said Lauer. "In fact, I think that was probably the worst race of his life. I thought it might be tough out of the nine hole, but when I saw where he was and what horses were in front of him, I thought he was sitting perfect. I thought at the half-mile he would win it. He was running smoothly and at that point, it was his race to lose."
Lauer has been associated with Mister Pollard his entire life. Lauer and his wife, Penny, raised the foal from their mare, Sweet Summer, at their farm located between Louisville and Lexington. They have teamed up for many stakes winners in the state of Indiana over the years, including Dreamin Big, who is the richest Indiana-bred female of all-time with nearly $550,000 in earnings.
"He (Mister Pollard) is a very calm, very classy little horse," said Lauer. "He stood in the paddock like a police pony. He's really a neat horse to be around."
Mister Pollard paid $6.60, $3.80 and $2.80 across the board. All four of his career wins have now been recorded at Indiana Grand.
Mister Pollard and Ricardo Santana Jr. takes the Governor's Stakes.
Linscott Photography