On Wednesday, Aug. 13, O’Brien Award winner Highland Kismet set the tone for another terrific day of competition at The Red Mile. The four-year-old gelding set a track record for his age, gait and sex in 1:50.1 in a $12,329 Open Handicap, which went off as the first race on a 16-race card. 

The day’s events also included two $109,580 second round divisions of the Kentucky Championship Series for sophomore filly pacers and male trotters, two $41,096 second round Kentucky Commonwealth Series divisions for three-year-old male trotters, five second round $20,548 Kentucky Golden Rod Series splits for three-year-olds of both gaits and sexes, and two $27,397 second round divisions of Kentucky Wildcat Series for sophomore male and female trotters and pacers.

Meanwhile, trainer John Butenschoen reflected on his career following his 2,000th training victory on Monday, Aug. 11 at The Red Mile.

Highland Kismet Sails Over The Red Mile Surface

Sent off as the second choice in the field of seven, Highland Kismet and Tim Tetrick wired the field in 1:50.1 to etch their names in The Red Mile record books for trainer Nancy Takter.

Leaving from post position five, the son of Father Patrick-Highland Top Hill took control from the outset and established fractions of :27, :54.4 and 1:22.2. Spy Coast (Yannick Gingras) chased admirably and also trotted a :27.4 final panel but simply his efforts were in vain. Longshot Toms Muscle (Ernie Hendry) closed for third at 44-1.

Owned and bred by Highland Thoroughbred Farm of Ontario, Highland Kismet is no stranger to The Red Mile’s winner circle as he won a $115,270 division of the Bluegrass Stakes in Lexington last fall. The gelding, who was second in last year’s $1.458 million Hambletonian to Karl, collected his first win from five starts this season and first for new conditioner, Takter, who took over the reins several months ago. 

Highland Kismet has a record of 22-9-2-0 and has earned $742,944. His winning time is a new lifetime mark.

The gelding paid $7.26 to his supporters.

Looksgoodinloulou, Mr Mouton Have Their Pictures Taken In Championship Series

Yannick Gingras and Looksgoodinloulou handed favoured Unreasonable (Marcus Miller) her first loss in her last five starts in the division for three-year-old filly pacers in 1:48.4. Caviart Delight (Scott Zeron) was third.

Trained by Ron Burke, world champion Looksgoodinloulou was one of the top fillies in her division last year and was second by a nose to champion Miki And Minnie in the $540,541 Championship Series final last fall.

This year the filly was not quite exhibiting the same form she had last year and entered a fifth behind Unreasonable last week.

This week, the daughter of Sweet Lou-Looksgoodinaromper was assigned the rail. Unreasonable went straight to the lead from post position four in the field of five. That filly set fractions of :27, :54.1 and 1:22.3 with Looksgoodinloulou merely following her lead in second.

As the fillies entered the final drive to the wire, Looksgoodinloulou simply outfinished Unreasonable with a final quarter in :26. Unreasonable held her own with her panel in :26.1 but turned up on the short end of the wire.

Bred by Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi, Looksgoodinloulou is owned by her breeders in addition to Lawrence Karr and Phillip Collura.

The filly paid $9.92 to win. Her record stands at 14-7-3-0 and she has banked $525,083.

Fresh off his world-record equalling effort, favoured Mr Mouton (Dexter Dunn) wired the field of eight to take the Championship division for sophomore male trotters in 1:51.4 for trainer Ake Svanstedt. Gimpanzee Dancer (Andrew McCarthy) was second and longshot Mountcastle (Zeron, 67-1) was third.

Mr Mouton began trotting from post position six and went straight to the top. He set splits of :28, :56.3 and 1:25.1 en route to victory. He was provided with a brief tussle at the top of lane as Gimpanzee Dancer pulled within a head but it was to no avail.

Bred by R. Kevin Greenfield, Mr Mouton is an altered son of Chapter Seven and the Father Patrick mare Burberry. He now has two consecutive wins at The Red Mile since finishing fifth in his Hambletonian elimination on July 26.

Mr Mouton only started once as a two-year-old in a New York Sire Stake event at Saratoga Harness, but he did break his maiden and defeated Kentucky champion and Hambletonian runner-up Super Chapter.

The gelding was purchased for $140,000 by Knutsson Trotting, Little E LLC, Stolz Geiger and Jorgen Sparredal Inc. under the name Count Seven.

Mr Mouton paid $2.38 to win. He possesses a resume of 7-4-2 and has earned $197,477.

Chat Room, Global Sensation prevail in Commonwealth Series

Chat Room and Tetrick the first Commonwealth Series event by a neck in 1:52.1 as the favourite. Herecomesdajudge (Andy Miller) was second and Big Shoes (Gingras) was third.

The son of Chapter Seven-Fatima Blush was bred by Marvin Katz, Sam Goldband and Al Libfeld. He was purchased at the 2023 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale for $47,000 by James Crawford IV, Charles Rowe, David Miller and Lawrence Means.

Chat Room paid $4.50 to win. He has amassed $342,638 in purse money with a record of 18-6-2-3.

Global Sensation and Dunn took the second division of this series in 1:52.3 as the favorite for trainer Marcus Melander. Precise Landing (David Miller) was second and Onemore Volo (Todd McCarthy) was third.

The son of Chapter Seven-Fly Angel Fly wired the field of seven.

Global Sensation was bred by Al Libfeld, Marvin Katz and Sam Goldband. He was purchased for $160,000 at the 2023 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale by Holly Lane Stud East, Daniel Plouffe and Jean Plouffe.

The gelding’s record is now 19-4-4-3 and he has earned $180,730.

Global Sensation paid $4.60 to win.

Flossy Hill Heads Golden Rod, Wildcat Winners

The royally bred Flossy Hill (Tall Dark Stranger - Party Girl Hill) led the way in the first of five divisions of the Golden Rod Series with a 1:51.1 score.

Joining Flossy Hill (T. McCarthy, $19.16) as Golden Rod Series winners on the day were Whiskey Wow (David Miller, $11.98) in 1:52.1, JK Fancy Nancy (Dunn, $6.62) in 1:50.2, Ake Palema (Zeron, $2.82) in 1:53, and Manforce (Dunn, $9.16) in 1:54.

Sky Legacy (A. McCarthy, $6.86) and Aintnothingucando (Terry Skinner, $51.24) won the two divisions of the Wildcat Series in 1:53.2 and 1:55.1 respectively.

Butenschoen Reflects On 2,000th Victory

On Monday, Aug. 11, John Butenschoen captured the 2,000th training victory of his decades long career with 18-1 upsetter R Zee in Wildcat Series action. The Illinois native had Scott Zeron in the bike for the milestone victory.

“My wife [Jackie] has been counting down the wins to (2,000) but I wasn’t,” said Butenschoen. “Of course it means something. And honestly, I could never have reached this point without my owners, my staff and all the support I’ve been so fortunate to have.”

Ever humble, Butenschoen began training in his home state and was introduced to harness racing by his father at age 12 when his father Walter, and a family friend happened to purchase a horse to compete at Maywood Park.

The horse happened to be trained by Bob Welch, trainer Roger's father. The two boys became friends and the rest as they say is history.

Butenschoen became involved in the yearling game with Doc Walker and Roger hooked him up with Delvin Miller. Through his work with the legendary Miller, he met his wife Jackie.

After four years of working with Miller, Butenschoen set out on his own and remained based in Illinois for more than two decades while training some young horses on the circuits in Pennsylvania and New York

When the winds of change began to shift in Illinois, Butenschoen relocated to Wind Gap, Pa. and winter in South Florida with his good friends the Pinskes.

“My career has been all about relationships,” said Butenschoen. “Some of this business is just happenstance and maintaining those relationships. That’s how I was able to meet Doc Walker and the Crawfords in Morrisville at a yearling sale when they were just starting out.”

His penchant for friendships has certainly served Butenschoen well. The 62-year-old has earned $36.370 million as of this writing from 13,692 starts. He is known for his work with young horses, especially trotters.

Butenschoen, however, sees his achievement as notice to shift gears.

“It’s time to take a step back and let Tyler make a name for himself,” he said of his son. “He and Lindsay [one of my essential staff workers] already handle so much. Tyler is so passionate about the work and you have to be in this business, but with any agricultural endeavour it takes time to transition.

“So, it will take time to pass off the torch to Tyler and I will also have to talk to my owners and see if it is OK to take a week or two off here and there. There are a lot of things I have missed and with some health news about my dad and his best friend I don’t wait until I’m older to do things. Also, the business is so different now. I can use Facetime no matter where I am to look at horses jogging or have meetings.”

Butenschoen already has a plan, but of course, it is not solely his own.

“My wife has really always wanted to go to Alaska,” he said. “So, she has been looking everything up to book a cruise. I spoke with Tim Hayes and Megan and they took a Viking Cruise up there and had a great time. It will be nice not to be 24-7 doing this and spend some time with my wife.”

Racing will continue through Sunday, Oct. 5, following a Sunday through Wednesday schedule. Fans and horsepeople can look forward to 5:05 p.m. post times on Sundays and 1 p.m. post times on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the meet. Please be advised post times on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are subject to change due to the fluctuations in extreme heat and various other weather conditions across the nation.

(With files from The Red Mile)