SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024) — Molly’s Town and Emmanuel Esquivel fought hard to prevail in the $55,000 Don Dunham Overnight Handicap Wed. Sept. 25. The race was named in honor of former racetrack security officer Don Dunham, who spent more than 16 years as part of the racing family at Horseshoe Indianapolis. A former farmer, barber, and lineman for Rush Shelby Energy, the longtime Shelby County resident was trackside for the presentation along with his wife, Sandy.
 
Molly’s Town was dominant last year at two and had to take a step up to face older, more experienced horses in the Dunham Overnight Handicap. But the task was not intimidating for the three-year-old. He was hustled out of the gate by Esquivel and in the mix for the lead from the start. He matched strides with Luckies Joy and Joe Ramos on his inside down the backstretch.
 
Heading into the turn, Esquivel peeked under his arm to assess the other challengers before asking Molly’s Town to advance. As he came out of the turn, he was ahead of Luckies Joy, but horses were fanned out across the track to his outside. One of those challengers was Latigo and Evin Roman who in a couple of strides had caught up to Molly’s Town and appeared to have the most momentum down the lane. However, Molly’s Town was not giving an inch, fighting back along the inside. The two horses hit the wire together with Molly’s Town getting the edge by the bob of a head over Latigo. Mr Chaos and Orlando Mojica finished third.
 
Molly’ Town was a favorite in the field, paying $6.20 for the win. The son of Mo Town is owned by Genaro Garcia’s Southwest Racing Stables. Garcia purchased the horse privately as a yearling from Swifty Farms and has campaigned him to six wins in 12 career starts with purse earnings just under the $300,000 mark. He now has three premier racing wins for the Garcia Stable.
 
“Genaro has done a really good job with this horse,” said Esquivel, who has more than 1,200 career wins. “He’s a big boy and he has kept him in great shape. He (Molly’s Town) is very professional. Last time out, he broke really slow, and I couldn’t get him in the race. He broke really sharp today. He tries really hard and he’s a great horse to ride.”
 
The 22^nd season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing extends through Thursday, Nov. 14. Racing is held at 2:10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. One additional all-Quarter Horse racing day is set for 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5. For more information on live racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis/racing or find the track on Social Media @HSIndyRacing.