On Tuesday (Aug. 27) Asweetbeachhere set a new lifetime mark of 1:49.2 by tossing down a :25.4 final panel in the third $108,108 Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series (KYSS) leg for three-year-pacing fillies. Marvin Luna continued to sizzle by reining six horses home over the red clay.

Direction (Todd McCarthy) picked up right where she left off after her triumph in the second leg of this series -in front- as the field of seven commenced pacing their mile. The filly clicked off fractions of :26.4, :55.1 and 1:23.1. Meanwhile the winner, with Dexter Dunn at the controls, was sitting in fifth, then fourth but advanced to third by the top of the lane.

As the fillies made their final drive to the wire, Asweetbeachhere had improved to third and Direction was overtaken by a nose by the pocket-sitting favorite Geocentric (Tim Tetrick).

These three ladies put on quite a show advancing to the finish line, however, it was the other gear Asweetbeachhere possessed that enabled her to outlast her rivals. Dan Patch Award winner and Kentucky champion Geocentric rounded out the trifecta.

Asweetbeachhere is a daughter of Sweet Lou-Some Fancy Filly. She is trained by Andrew Harris and notched her second win from nine starts this season. The filly’s career resume of 20 starts now stands at 6-4-4 and her bankroll swelled to $352,435.

Bred by Courant A B, Asweetbeachhere is the third foal from her dam and was sold at the 2022 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale for $115,000 under the name Louisana Raing to Douglas Overhiser.

After a freshman campaign where she was conditioned by Erv Miller and earned $177,360, Asweetbeachhere was purchased privately in November by her trainer, Bill Pollack, and Bruce Areman.

Asweetbeachhere has been knocking on the door. She was third in the $144,757 Adioo Volo and finished out of the money in the $136,986 Jerry Silverman Memorial. As a two-year-old she was fourth in the $400,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship behind Geocentric.

The filly is a half-sibling to So Irresistible (Always B Miki, $269,789) and her granddam, Fancy Filly, is a world champion, as well as a Dan Patch and O’Brien Award Winner. Fancy Filly earned $1.11 million.

Those who supported Asweetbeachhere at the windows collected $9.36.

Luna makes a statement

New Jersey native Marvin Luna is experiencing a breakout season in 2024. The soon to be 23-year-old entered this year’s meet at The Red Mile after finishing second in the driver standings to Atlee Bender at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming and Hotel.

He is also currently sitting in fourth place in the driver standings at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Luna has nearly doubled his starts from last season with 1,160 and has more than doubled his earnings ($3.4 million).

Luna, who was introduced to harness racing through his father, Angel, didn’t jump right in the deep end of the pool when he began driving in 2020. In fact, he only steered 20 horses and three of those finished third, but Luna was more intent on acquiring an education and to demonstrate he was here to stay.

While still in high school, Luna was gainfully employed by Trent Stohler and then became a pupil of Tony Alagna.

Now he can add capturing six races on a single card to his blossoming list of achievements.

Luna began his hot streak in race eight with Betustay ($7.58) for Stohler and the duo teamed up for victories in race 10 with Odds On Liquidity ($4.16), race 11 with Gloryview Image ($2.90), race 13 with Under The Desk ($4.24) and the nightcap with Hungry Girl ($7.02).

Luna also annexed race nine with Morningstarbeach ($18.28) for Greg Henderson.

Heavy favourites Strong Poison, Admiral Hill capture KYSS divisions for four-year-olds

Strong Poison (Yannick Gingras), who gave the sport’s top ranked horse, Twin B Joe Fresh, all she could handle on this circuit for the last two seasons collected her third win in her last four starts in the second $47,297 KYSS leg for four-year-old pacing mares in 1:50.4.

The heavy favourite led at every call through fractions of :27.1, :56.4 and 1:24.3 while never facing significant resistance. Prosecco Princess (T. McCarthy) was second and longshot Keep My Secret (Tony Hall) was third.

Strong Poison, a daughter of Always B Miki-Fiyonce was bred by Steve Stewart, Charles Nash and Julie Nash. She was purchased privately by Let It Ride Stables and Odds On Racing last fall and was previously trained by Ron Burke.

Strong Poison paid $2.64 to win.

Admiral Hill provided Gingras with a sweep of the KYSS events for four-year-olds. He was a heavy favourite like Strong Poison but had some anxious moments prior to hitting the line in front by a nose in 1:49.1 in the second $47,297 leg for male pacers.

Blue Lou (David Miller) led the field through a first fraction of :27 but was content to sit in the garden spot as Admiral Hill swept to the front before the half-mile pole. The son of Sweet Lou-Laura Hill went a half in :55 and three quarters 1:23. Speaking Volumes (Hall) did just that as he closed stoutly from fourth with a :25.2 final quarter to just miss. Blue Lou held for third.

Trained by Per Engblom, Admiral Hill was bred by Thomas Hill and is owned by Morrison Stables. Like Strong Poison, he is no stranger to the Bluegrass. In fact, the gelding won the $50,000 Kentucky Golden Rod Series final as a freshman and the $100,000 Kentucky Commonwealth Series final as a sophomore while in Chris Ryder’s barn.

Admiral Hill has now earned $627,694 in purse money and improved his record to 17-6-5 in 38 starts. He has 12 starts this year with 8-1-1 recorded and is enjoying his best season to date with $343,886 in the bank.

The favourite paid $2.66 to win.

Also featured on the undercard were two $20,270 Kentucky Goldenrod Series divisions which were won by Disney (Todd McCarthy) in 1:50.2 and Blazing Belle (Dexter Dunn) in 1:51.4.

Finally, the sole race contested on the non-betting card was the $40,541 Kentucky Commonwealth Series for sophomore pacing fillies as the third leg of the series with Real Deal Lindy (Yannick Gingras) winning in 1:50.4. 

Racing continues at The Red Mile on Sunday (Sept. 1), Monday (Sept. 2) and Tuesday (Sept. 3). Sunday’s first post is 5:05 p.m., with Monday and Tuesday beginning at 1 p.m.

(With files from The Red Mile)