Tough Trip No Problem For Split The House
By Frank Cotolo, for Breeders Crown
ANDERSON, Ind. – Split The House made his second move worthy of winning the $421,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace at Hoosier Park Saturday night in a sparkling 1:48.1. Brett Miller drove the winner, who hit the finish one length in front of McWicked.
Split The House (Rocknroll Hanover-Shake That Junk) left alertly but settled for second as All Bets Off soared from the outside nine post to take the early lead. The first quarter came up in a sizzling :25.4 as the shuffling began.
From the second tier the first takeover came when Keystone Velocity went to the outside and brushed to the lead, putting All Bets Off in second, but not for long. Split The House retook the lead with another brush, passing those two.
The battles were not over as All Bets Off returned to the outside and took on Mach It So, one of the early leaders shuffled, as the lead exchanged through a half in :53.4 and three-quarters in 1:21.1.
Into the stretch, the duelers were Mach It So and All Bets Off, but neither could handle the second move by Split The House, as he passed the battling duo and took the win.
McWicked took advantage of the late duel and flew by the pair to take second. Mach It So earned the show spot. Both were sent to the gate at odds of 2-1, with Mach It So the slight actual favorite.
Fair Winds Farm bred Split The House, who is owned by Crawford Farms Racing. Chris Oakes trains the 5-year-old gelding, who won his second race of the season in only his sixth start of the year.
Split The House paid $18.40 to win.
