Direction made a statement with her triumph in the Kentucky Championship Series for three-year-old filly pacers while Chat Room posted an upset in the division for freshman male trotters on Sunday, Aug. 18 at The Red Mile.

Although many were anxiously awaiting the return of Kentucky champion and Dan Patch Award winner Geocentric, Direction was steered to the finish line in first place by Todd McCarthy in the lone $109,589 second leg division for the three-year-old filly pacers. The daughter of Always B Miki-Blood Red finished a strong second to Its A Love Thing, who is on a four-race winning streak, on Aug. 6 over the same oval.

Without the Fan Hanover and Jerry Silverman Memorial winner in this field, Direction seized the lead after the wings of the gate unfolded to trip the timer in :28.1 for the first quarter-mile. Bath Bomb (Yannick Gingras) assumed command prior to a half in :55.2 as Direction sat in the pocket with Fearless Bettor (Dexter Dunn) following in third position.

When it was time for the final drive to the wire, Direction put away Bath Bomb but had to stave off the late surge of Fearless Bettor.

The Brett Pelling trainee held off Fearless Bettor by a nose in a new lifetime mark of 1:50.1 with a last quarter in :27. Neridas Wish (Andrew McCarthy) rounded out the trifecta as the longest shot on the board at 31-1. Favoured Geocentric (Tim Tetrick) was fourth.

Bred by Diamond Creek Farm, Direction competes for that facility’s racing operation. The filly improved her overall record to 9-1-2 in 13 starts and has now earned nearly $200,000 in two years of racing. She has won five of her seven starts this season.

Direction is the first foal out of her dam, who is a full sister to Blood Money ($486,824) and half-sibling to Somebeachsomewhere sons Blood Brother ($985,385), Blood Line ($583,894) and Blood Feud ($191,202). 

The filly paid $5.60 to win as the second selection in the wagering.

Chat Room (pictured above) and driver Yannick Gingras snapped heavily favoured Super Chapter’s three-race winning streak in the $109,589 third-round division for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings. The final time of 1:56 over a track downgraded to 'good' was also a new personal best. Go Dog Go (Todd McCarthy) was second and Super Chapter (Dexte Dunn) was third.

Longshot Landing On Time (Scott Zeron) led the field of 12 through fractions of :28.3, :58 and 1:27.4 as Chat Room trotted in second. As Landing On Time tired in the drive to the wire, Chat Room simply continued his strong effort and was rewarded by visiting the winner’s circle.

Trained by John Butenschoen, Chat Room collected his third win from six pari-mutuel miles and has earned nearly $125,000.

Chat Room is a gelded son of Chapter Seven out of Fatima Blush. Bred by Marvin Katz, Sam Goldband and Al Libfeld, Chat Room is the third foal out of his unraced dam and was a $47,000 purchase at the 2023 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale by James Crawford IV, Charles Rowe, David J. Miller and Lawrence Means. Chat Room’s granddam is a full sister to world champion and Ohio stallion Dejarmbro ($1.13 million).

Chat Room provided his supporters with $26.84 to win as the third choice in the wagering.

Three-year-old pacing filly Davenport, a half-sister to 2023 U.S. Horse of the Year Confederate, established a new lifetime best of 1:49.3 in the $41,096 second round of the Kentucky Commonwealth Series. Andrew McCarthy was in the bike of this Pelling trainee. Capytreach (Andy Miller) was second and favoured Real Deal Lindy (Gingras) was third. The filly by Captain Crunch is a Diamond Creek homebred. Her record now reads 6-3-1 with more than $85,000 banked in a dozen starts. She paid $7.56 to win.

Yannick G Kemp and driver Peter Wrenn took the first of two third-round divisions of the Commonwealth Series for the two-year-old male trotters in 1:54 for trainer Nifty Norman and Castel Lindy broke his maiden in the second split in 1:57.4 with Dunn driving for trainer Domenico Cecere. Both winners are sons of Walner.

The Pelling-trained three-year-old pacing fillies Disney (Todd McCarthy) and Beautiful Roz (Andrew McCarthy) swept the Golden Rod Series divisions worth $20,548 each with 1:52.2 and 1:54 winning miles, respectively.

Dunn and Norman teamed up for a Golden Rod Series win with two-year-old male trotter Hey Dude scoring in 1:57.1. Dunn also drove Assiduous to a 1:58.1 score for the Chris Ryder stable while Gingras drove the other Golden Rod winner, the Tony Alagna-trained Blue Cartier, also posting a 1:58.1 mile.

(With files from The Red Mile)