Shanon Nicole Upsets Indiana Grand Stakes

Going from the turf to the dirt was not a problem for Shanon Nicole and jockey Miguel Mena. The three-year-old chestnut daughter of Majestic Warrior handled the sloppy surface with ease Wednesday, July 23, winning the sixth running of the $200,000-added Indiana Grand Stakes at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino.

Several horses left quickly from the gate to secure the top spots. Kiss to Remember with Jeremy Rose aboard had the advantage inside. Heavily favored Kiss Moon and Rodney Prescott sat to the outside through quick early fractions of :22.3 and :45.4. They were followed closely by Nesso and Abdiel Jaen and Awesome Jill, with Jesus Castanon aboard, before gapping by several lengths to Shanon Nicole. Heading into the turn, Kiss to Remember still had control at the front while Shanon Nicole was closing the gap on the pack from the other end of the race.

In the stretch, Shanon Nicole swung around opponents and came head to head with Kiss to Remember. The two battled down the stretch before Shanon Nicole was able to win the battle and the race by one length over Kiss to Remember. Awesome Jill was maintained ground for third during the one mile event that was recorded in a time of 1:40.11, a little less than one second off the track record.

Being aboard Shanon Nicole for the first time in her brief career was not an issue for Mena. He was able to guide her through the race perfectly in her third career win and her second victory in six starts for 2014.

“This is the first time I’ve ridden her (Shanon Nicole) and she is very nice,” said Mena. “Mike (Maker) did not give me many instructions. The pace set up nice and was pretty fast. She picked up about the three-eighths and got into it. She struggled a little early on, but about the five furlongs, she started picking it up and once she got going, she came flying home.”