Victorianas Secret swooped to the front midrace and dug in gamely through the stretch for a 1:50.2 victory in the $111,111 fourth preliminary of the Kentucky Championship Series for three-year-old trotting fillies on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at The Red Mile.

Leaving from post seven, driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. pushed Victorianas Secret forward and secured the pocket briefly into the first turn as Shes Moni (Yannick Gingras) brushed by early leader Islandgirl Hanover (Joe Bongiorno) to the opening quarter in :27. Wrenn waited for Shes Moni to settle on the lead in the backstretch, then angled Victorianas Secret off the pegs to march up and grab command through a :54.2 half and stayed on the muscle through the final turn.

Nezuko Kamado S (Scott Zeron), the 2-5 favourite, tipped out of fourth to grind up the rim and reached the leader’s wheel to three-quarters in 1:22 but struggled to surge by upon straightening for the finish. Victorianas Secret stayed to task tightly at the pylons and reached for the finish to cross the beam a half-length better than Shes Moni, who knifed through horses late for second. Madam Cheval (Tim Tetrick) kicked from a second-over trip for third.

Vernon Beachy trains Victorianas Secret, a filly by Tactical Landing-Victoriana, for owner Ryan Smith. The filly won her eighth race from 10 starts this season and her ninth from 18 starts in her career, raising her earnings to $620,632. She paid $10.38 to win.

Chiquita Ba Beeman (David Miller) blew up the tote board in the lone $41,667 Kentucky Commonwealth Series division for sophomore trotting fillies when she converted a forward-stalking trip in the nightcap to a 1:52.1 victory as the second longest shot on the board. Starting from the pylon post, Miller secured a seat third to the inside and capitalized on an opening at the bottom of the last turn when 6-5 favourite Crossover (Dexter Dunn) broke stride. Chiquita Ba Beeman swung three wide rounding for home to grab the lead and found the line in time to keep a nose up on fast-closing Decreed (Tim Tetrick) with Naked And Famous (Todd McCarthy) rallying from near last for third. Missy Essig conditions the winning filly, by Gimpanzee-Goldavila F, for owners Russell Beeman and Charles Weaver. She returned $192.18 to win.

Numanthia (Marvin Luna, 1:51.3; $6.06) took top honours with the fastest victory from the three $20,833 divisions of the Kentucky Golden Rod Series for three-year-old trotting fillies on Wednesday. La Mancha (Tim Tetrick, 1:53; $5.54), a Walner filly out of world champion Manchego, and Concise (Scott Zeron, 1:53; $5.12) took the other divisions. Woodside Jasmine (Josert Fonseca, 1:54.3; $11.40) won the sole $13,889 Wildcat Series division for that cohort.

Early in the card, nine-year-old Logan Shehan of Hopkinsville, Ky. celebrated his first victory as an owner. Shehan’s interest, five-year-old Lazarus N-Hobe Sound gelding The Phantom (Zyler Maxwell), popped off a pocket trip in an $8,750 overnight race to kick clear for a 3-1/4-length win in a 1:55.2 mile. The win was also the first on the year in 10 tries for The Phantom, a now-six-time winner from 61 starts with $88,186 earned in his career. He paid $10.10 to win.

Live harness racing at The Red Mile resumes on Sunday with the $80,000 USD Kentucky Championship Series fourth preliminary for three-year-old pacing fillies slated as the headlining event. First-race post time is 5:05 p.m. (EDT).

(The Red Mile)