Luna looking to keep moving up

Marvin Luna knows what it’s like to sit at the top of the harness racing driver standings at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. At least for a while.

The 23-year-old Luna led the way at Hoosier as late as the first week of June last season before perennial track champion Trace Tetrick reclaimed the No. 1 spot on his way to his 13th title at the Anderson, Ind., oval.

When the Hoosier meet ended in November, Luna was fifth in the standings in victories, but his 15.2-win percentage and .288 universal driver’s rating were both second among the 13 drivers with more than 400 starts at the track.

“Trace was on the road at Miami Valley, so he would miss a couple days at Hoosier, and I was the leading driver for three months,” Luna said, adding with a laugh, “Obviously, when Trace came back, he told me to step away. He took over. But that was fun, holding the title for a little bit. At the end of the day, I handed the lines to him.”

Luna finished with 174 wins in 1,139 starts at Hoosier last year. Tetrick led with 281, followed by John DeLong with 233, Kyle Wilfong with 212, and Jordan Ross with 189.

As Hoosier prepares to open its 2025 meet Friday, Luna is looking to build on last year’s success. For the entire year, he won 256 races (tied for 44th in North America) and $3.70 million in purses (37th in North America). He shattered his previous highs of 83 wins and $1.11 million in purses set in 2023 as his number of starts nearly tripled.

In addition to his accomplishments at Hoosier, Luna finished second in wins at Oak Grove Racing & Gaming last year, with his 40 victories falling three shy of leader Atlee Bender. His top triumph came at Oak Grove when he guided Hung Over to a $100,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes championship for 3-year-old male trotters.

He captured a total of 10 other stakes for state-sired horses in Indiana and Kentucky and also notched a Grand Circuit win with Dale Yeah in a division of the Pegasus Stakes at Hoosier.

“Getting more opportunities, that was quite amazing,” Luna said. “I was very grateful for that. It was a good year. I was very happy with it.

“Now, I just want to be better than I was last year. That’s all. I don’t have competition with any other person, just myself.”

When Hoosier opens Friday, Luna will have eight drives on the 14-race card. He has two morning-line favorites, including Brookview Bullet at 8-5 in the night’s $18,000 Open 1-2 for pacers. It will be Luna’s first time driving Brookview Bullet, a stakes-winning 7-year-old gelding who has earned $537,062 in his career.

“No pressure,” Luna joked. “That horse is really good. I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t driven him before, but I’ve lost to him a couple times, which wasn’t fun. Hopefully, I get to win with him.”

Another of Luna’s starters will be Low Rider, who is 3-1 on the morning line in a $16,000 conditioned pace. Luna piloted Low Rider to a 1:48.4 win in an Open 1-2 last year at Hoosier, the fastest-ever mile for both the driver and horse.

“That was quite fun,” Luna said. “He’s a complete angel. He knows his job. I’m just there for the ride. He does all the work.”

Only two of Luna’s starters Friday are worse than 5-1 on the morning line, and none are higher than 10-1.

“It definitely makes me feel good,” Luna said about his opportunities. “Power can definitely make me look good.”

Luna, like all the drivers at Hoosier, will have to make some adjustments when the meet begins as the track will be eliminating the passing lane in the final eighth of a mile of the homestretch for a 60-day trial period. The move, made in partnership with the Indiana Standardbred Association, is aimed at promoting more early movement and competitive racing on the seven-eighths-mile oval.

“I’m interested to find out how the no passing lane is going to play out,” said Luna, who worked for trainer Tony Alagna for four years prior to focusing on driving. “For me personally, I think the passing lane did help me out because I’m a very patient driver. But I’m OK with it. I’ve driven at other tracks without it. If you’re going to be a competitive driver, you’ve got to overcome any obstacles. I think we’ll be OK.”

Harrah’s Hoosier Park will operate on a two-day Friday and Saturday schedule for each of the first two weeks of the season. From there, Hoosier Park will add Thursdays on March 26, before beginning a four-day Wednesday-Saturday schedule in April. Standard post time nightly for the 2025 racing season will be 6:15 p.m. (EDT).

For free daily programs for Harrah’s Hoosier Park, visit the track’s website click here. For more about Hoosier Park’s opening, click here.

For complete race entries, click here: US Trotting entries.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA