Mack The Slew Wins Hinsdale Stakes
Mack The Slew and rider Terry Thompson took home top honors in the $84,000 Hillsdale Stakes Saturday, Sept. 10 at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. The two-year-old son of Pass Rush cruised home impressively in a time of 1:05.0 over the muddy track in the five and one-half furlong event.
“I saw last time out on the comment that he (Mack The Slew) broke in,” said Thompson. “He broke in this time too and didn’t get the best break. However, we made the best of it. He struggled a little around the turn on the muddy track but once he got his feet under him in the stretch, he really got into his stride.”
Mack The Slew broke from post four and was not a factor early on. The New Bucketlist and Tommy Turner grabbed the inside advantage early. The top pair was accompanied by Prince Of Time and Fernando De La Cruz down the backstretch.
In the turn, several Indiana bred colts began to get into position for the final strides, including Mack The Slew, who slid up along the inside behind the top ones. A small opening became available and Thompson tried to split horses, but he could not get Mack The Slew going and had to find a different route of attack.
“He (Mack The Slew) did all of that without any effort,” said Thompson. “I went to Churchill Downs to breeze him last week. He’s a very nice horse and the real deal. He’s a young horse with only one start. I tried to break between horses in the center but he needed to have a clear shot to race, so we took the outside.”
Once he had his clear shot, Mack The Slew made it look easy powering to the front and across the wire by one and three-quarter lengths ahead of Artie’s Love and Orlando Mojica for second. Prince of Time grabbed the third spot.
Trained by Tom Proctor, Mack The Slew is owned by Don and Dana Myers’ Swifty Farms of Seymour, Ind. Both Mack The Slew’s father, Pass Rush, and his mother, Maggie Slew, were stakes winners over Hoosier Park’s racetrack during their careers. Mack The Slew is now two for two in his brief career with earnings in excess of $71,000.
Photo by Linscott Photography