Canadian trotting star Forbidden Trade took his show on the road and captured the $210,000 Caesars Trotting Classic featured on Harrah’s Hoosier Park’s Grand Circuit stakes card on Friday, Sept. 24.
Bob McClure drove the 2019 Horse of the Year to the 1:52.4 victory, defeating a field of top trotters for trainer Luc Blais and owner Determination of Montreal, Que.
Leaving together off the gate from posts seven and six, Forbidden Trade out-sprinted Its Academic (Yannick Gingras) to the lead before the first turn, with Guardian Angel AS (Brian Sears) following in third.
Forbidden Trade reached the quarter in :27 and led the way through middle fractions of :56.1 and 1:24.2 while 6-5 favoured Maple Leaf Trot champion Lindy The Great (Andy Miller) advanced first-up into contention, with Ready For Moni (Dexter Dunn) following his cover. However, those rivals posed no threat late in the race as Forbidden Trade remained clear on top turning for home and trotted confidently through the stretch.
Its Academic popped the pocket down the lane and made a late lunge, but couldn’t catch Forbidden Trade, who prevailed by three-quarters of a length. Guardian Angel AS finished 1-1/2 lengths behind in third while Ready For Moni was fourth. Lindy The Great finished ninth.
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised [Lindy The Great wasn’t leaving with us]. Everybody, they go for a different trip,” said McClure in a post-race interview with Bob ‘Hollywood’ Heyden. “I was happy when I got the front so easy and we got a pretty good breather up the backside.”
Forbidden Trade, who was runner-up in the Maple Leaf Trot earlier this month after a Canadian record performance in Earl Rowe Memorial Invitational, paid $8.60 to win as the 3-1 second choice.
“This is the best he’s ever been,” said McClure. “He was off a little while due to injury but that time did him so much good. He’s in unbelievable form right now.”
After winning just one of his five starts last year, the 2019 Hambletonian champion is four-for-10 this season and has earned just over $400,000. The five-year-old son of Kadabra and Pure Ivory has won half of his 40 career starts while banking $1,888,662 in purses.
(Standardbred Canada)
