Diamond Solitaire overcomes obstacles enroute to Shelby County Handicap win

It is hard to believe that a horse with more than $300,000 on her card just earned her first premier racing win Wednesday in the 22nd running of the $100,000 Shelby County Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Diamond Solitaire (photo), the Indiana sired mare who has hit the board numerous times in premier events, scored the victory for her longtime connections making up the Diamond Solitaire Partnership.

Diamond Solitaire had a big ask starting from the outside post 12 in the lineup of female contenders. But jockey Alex Achard was patient on the six-year-old mare and sat behind the early speed led by Girls are Tuffer ridden by Albin Jimenez on the inside tracked closely by Juradicial and Edgar Morales on the outside. Imagine the Moon was also in contention early on for DeShawn Parker.

Heading into the only turn of the six-furlong sprint, the field began to bunch up and Diamond Solitaire was on the outside in fourth behind the top trio of horses. Heading into the turn, Achard dipped inward and found an open seam before moving up the inside. Achard asked the mare for another gear, and she responded, shooting up the inside to snag the win by one and three-quarter lengths in a time of 1:11.29.

Imagine the Moon finished second, just a neck ahead of Girls are Tuffer.

“I was trying my best not to go wide, but sometimes you don’t have a choice,” added Achard, a native of France. “Coming around the turn, I saw a good sized gap between horses. There was plenty of room, so we moved down and got that spot. Once we ended up at the rail, she paused a little, but then she switched gears and took off again. She ran a great race today as she is really a two turn mare. Ethan (West) has done a great job keeping her fit and ready to go.”

Diamond Solitaire paid her backers $12.20 to win. The daughter of Majestic Harbor was bred by David Osborne, Loren Hebel Osborne, and Gene McLean. She grew up with another filly from the Osborne’s farm, former Indiana premier race winner Pearl Tiara.

When it came time to put them in training, Diamond Solitaire was offered for a fractional ownership program, which includes a plethora of owners. Since that time, she has won six races and more than $370,000 in earnings, but it wasn’t until her win in the Shelby County Handicap that she can add a premier racing title to her credentials.

William Henry Harrison Handicap

Mr Chaos proved to be a too tough to contain the field Wednesday in the 21st running of the $100,000 William Henry Harrison Handicap. The Indiana sired gelding earned his fourth premier racing title at Horseshoe Indianapolis in the event.

Mr Chaos began from the center of the track with a plethora of horses seeking the top spot early in the six furlong race. It wasn’t until midway down the backstretch that horses began to back off with CJ’s Storm holding his own along the rail for Alberto Burgos and Pickle Feet gaining the advantage by a head for Santo Sanjur. Luckies Joy and Evin Roman joined the top two on the outside, leaving Mr Chaos on the outside behind him.

Heading around the final turn, Orlando Mojica decided he had waited long enough on the horses in front of him and tipped Mr Chaos four wide coming out of the turn.

The move placed Mr Chaos in perfect positioning for the stretch drive. Once he was able to shake loose from the field, it was only Pickle Feet between horses and CJ’s Storm that stood in between him and the title. All three horses dug in gamely with Mr Chaos getting by late for the win by three-quarters of a length. Pickle Feet finished second by a neck over CJ’s Storm on the inside.

Mr Chaos paid $4.60 as the race favorite. The five-year-old son of Turbo Compressor is owned by Judy Dorris and Ken Sentel. He is a standout for trainer Robert Dobbs Jr., who relocated to Indiana in recent years and maintains a stable of more than 20 on the backstretch of Horseshoe Indianapolis.

“He is a nice horse, and you can do anything you need to do with him,” said Mojica, who has three leading jockey titles to his credit at Horseshoe Indianapolis. “He can go to the lead, or he can come from behind. It started raining today during the race and I wanted to get him to the outside to keep the dirt out of his face. When it was time to move, I wanted to move him. He responded great. There was a lot of speed to keep up with the pace today.”

Mojica, a native of Puerto Rico, has ridden his entire career of more than 20 years in Indiana. He earned leading jockey titles from Hoosier Park and has three leading jockey titles to his credit at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The multiple Graded Stakes winning jockey has more than 2,700 career wins with more than $54 million accumulated in purse earnings.

Pairing up with Mr Chaos puts two veterans together for a lot of Mr Chaos’ success on the track. He now has nine wins and more than $587,000 in career earnings to move into fifth place on the list of all-time leading Indiana sired horses in state history.

Mr Chaos was bred by Anthony Mathias and has spent his entire career with his current connections.

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