Unbeaten Manchego In To Go Friday

Manchego, who has won all nine of her starts thus far this season, will look to extend her unbeaten record this Friday (October 6) at the Red Mile. She has drawn Post 8 in the second of five divisions of the Muscle Hill International Stallion Stakes (ISS) Two-Year-Old Filly Trot, sponsored by Southwind Farms.

Having won her Bluegrass division by seven lengths in 1:56.1, Manchego, by Muscle Hill and from the Cantab Hall mare Secret Magic, has now earned $534,948 for owners Black Horse Racing, John Fielding, and Herb Liverman, and has recorded wins in the $307,500 Peaceful Way, $252,000 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes (PASS) Championship, and the $330,800 Jim Doherty Memorial. Yannick Gingras will steer for trainer Jimmy Takter.

Second to the Kentucky Sires Stakes champ Top Expectations, Lily Stride will start from Post 3 in the opening division of the ISS. Lily Stride, who was the odds-on favourite in her Bluegrass tilt last week, is by Muscle Hill and is from the Donato Hanover mare Sterling Volo. She has hit the board in all eight of her starts this season and has notched four wins. She has banked $183,652 in purse earnings for owners Emilio and Maria Rosati. Lily Stride is conditioned by Mark Harder. Tim Tetrick will drive on Friday.

Hey Blondie, who was a runner-up to Manchego in their PASS Championship, will compete against Lily Stride on Friday and will start from Post 7. Owned by Steve Jones, Mary Kinsey Arnold, Paul Bordogna, and David Mc Duffee, Hey Blondie, by Cantab Hall and out of the Muscles Yankee mare Winbak Blondie, has won three races from eight starts this season and has compiled $139,848 in earnings. The Chuck Sylvester trainee will enter Friday’s test off of a third-place finish in the $240,000 Kentuckiana Stakes, and will be driven by Andrew McCarthy.

Bluegrass winners Seviyorum, who won her division in 1:56.2, and Seven Karats, who trotted in 1:56.3, will face off against Basquiat, a Jimmy Takter-trained filly by Cantab Hall out of the Windsongs Legacy mare Thatsnotmyname, in the third ISS split. Basquiat will start from Post 7 with Yannick Gingras in the bike. She has won five races from seven starts. One of her victories came in the $240,000 Kentuckiana Stakes. Basquiat has earned $165,151 for owner Order By Stable.

Ohio Sires Stakes star Looking For Zelda will make her second start on the Grand Circuit in the fourth ISS division. She will enter the race off of an eight-and-a-quarter-length lifetime-best victory in a $30,000 division of the Simpson Stakes at Harrah’s Philadelphia in which she trotted in 1:56.1. Trained by Norm Parker for owner Rob Key, Looking For Zelda, who finished second as the 1-9 favourite in her $250,000 Ohio Sires Stakes Championship, has six wins to her credit after eight starts. She has earned $192,675 to this point. Looking For Zelda will start from Post 2 and will host Tony Hall in the sulky.

Julie Miller trainee Strawberry Hanover will ‘neighbour’ Looking For Zelda in the dash, as she will start from Post 3. Owned by Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld, Strawberry Hanover, who has won one of her four starts this season, heads into her Friday tilt off of a a swift qualifier at the Red Mile in which she trotted a 1:52.2 mile. The qualifying effort came on the heels of a Strawberry Hanover’s PASS Championship, where she made a break. Strawberyy Hanover has earned $33,654 thus far this season. She will be driven by Andy Miller on Friday.

Sevenbuyeleven and Top Expectations – who won their Bluegrass divisions in 1:55.1 and 1:56.1, respectively – will occupy the outer posts in the final ISS division. The two fillies will start from Post 7 and 8, respectively.

Sevenbuyeleven, a Linda Toscano-trained filly by Chapter Seven from the Muscles Yankee mare Musclelini, has earned $59,267 over seven starts. She has won two of those races for owner Kenneth Jacobs. Tim Tetrick will be in the sulky on Friday.

A winner of three races from nine starts, Top Expectations, by Cantab Hall and from the Kadabra mare Exceed Expectation, races for owner Daniel Plouffe. Top Expectations has earned $201,378 after nine starts this season. She has won three races. Marcus Miller will drive the filly for trainer Erv Miller on Friday.

First-race post time for the Friday, October 6 program is set for 1:00 p.m. EDT.

(With files from the Red Mile)

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