Cactus Joe Prevails in Ellen's Lucky Star

Cactus Joe and rider Oriana Rossi provided an exciting finish in the sixth running of the $85,000 Ellen’s Lucky Star Stakes at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino. The duo ran down longshot Lady Caroline and Orlando Mojica to get the win in the final stride of the race, winning by a margin of one-half length in the one mile turf event.

Unexpectedly, all the speed in the race came from the outside as Lady Caroline (post 10), Cactus Joe (post 11) and Shes Dangerous, ridden by Alejandro Contreras from post 12 took three of the top four spots early. Cactus Joe was centered in the middle of the track surrounded by horses before the field finally thinned out around the turn.

Down the backstretch, Lady Caroline continued her hold of the top position, but contenders for the top spot were not far off the early pace and posed a threat throughout. Around the turn, Lady Caroline was able to open up on the field to get a huge advantage for the stretch run. Cactus Joe was the only one up for the challenge and began digging in, rallying hard to get the win in a time of 1:39.08. Lady Caroline was a strong second, three lengths ahead of third place finisher Express Model and James Graham, who had to maneuver around horses in the final turn for a move up to third place.

Cheers exploded from outside the winner’s circle as Cactus Joe crossed the finish line in first place. Owners William Reynolds and Randy Matthews were joined by a large group of supporters in the winner’s circle, which included Mr. and Mrs. Charles Farrell, who were breeders on the filly with Matthews.

“Cactus Joe definitely has a fan club,” noted Matthews, who also serves as the trainer. “She is an awfully hard knocking little mare and tries every time out.”

Cactus Joe has been guided in all five of her career starts by Rossi, who was born in Italy and raised in England. The three-year-old daughter of Cactus Ridge is now three for five in her career and pushed her career earnings to more than $109,000. Cactus Joe was a mild upset, paying $11.00, $6.80 and $4.60 across the board.

“She (Cactus Joe) keeps improving and improving,” said Rossi. “She has shown how versatile she can be. She can run short, long and now shows she can run on the turf. When we broke from the gate, I had a little trouble getting her settled because the 12 (Shes Dangerous) was on our hip and she felt it and wanted to go, but as soon as we got clear, she settled nicely. She had never been on the turf before. In fact, she wanted to eat the grass when we walked onto the course.”

Cactus Joe adds her name to an impressive list of Indiana bred winners of the Ellen’s Lucky Star Stakes. The race was named after the standout Indiana bred mare, which earned nearly $250,000 during her career and was a multiple stakes winner between Indiana Grand and Hoosier Park. Like Cactus Joe, Ellen’s Lucky Star was versatile as well, running well on both the turf and the dirt during her career for trainer Greg Foley and earned stakes wins going both short and long.