Finishing no worse than second in all seven of her starts with already nearly $700,000 banked, Grade 1 Jim Doherty Memorial winner Birr Castle will look to return to the winner’s circle when she starts as the odds-on favourite in the first of two $139,000 USD International Stallion Stakes divisions for two-year-old trotting fillies, sponsored by Midland Acres, on Friday, Oct. 9 at The Red Mile.

Birr Castle, one of four for trainer Marcus Melander in the division slated as race 11, landed the outermost post in the septet following a runner-up effort over an off track in a division of the Grade 3 Bluegrass last Friday. Scott Zeron retains the assignment on the daughter of Captain Corey who is listed as the 4-5 morning line favourite. She will start widest of her stablemates Sabia (driver Mattias Melander, post four, 6-1 morning line odds), Loves Passion (Dexter Dunn, post five, 9-2) and A Tale Of Kemp (Todd McCarthy, post six, 8-1).

The second division for freshman trotting fillies attracted Bluegrass division winner Beauts Cabaret (Yannick Gingras, post three, 2-1), who waltzed through tepid fractions on the lead to then stave off all late pursuers for a neck victory in 1:55.2. Trained by Stephen Bossence, the Canadian-campaigned daughter of International Moni will face six other rivals in race 13 on the day including Kentucky Golden Rod Series winner Mine Mine Mine (Dexter Dunn, post two, 7-2), who will look to stay flat following a last-place effort when breaking stride in the mud last week, as well as Golden Rod Series runner-up Putitondadstab (Scott Zeron, post six, 6-1) and former million-dollar yearling Dejeuner (Andy McCarthy, post five, 8-1).

Ron Burke’s pair of Stonebridge Blitz (Yannick Gingras, post four, 5-2) and Ocean Party (Dexter Dunn, post two, 7-2) lead the charge for the first $104,000 USD division of the International Stallion Stakes for two-year-old pacing males on Friday, carded as race nine and sponsored by the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown. Stonebridge Blitz, a son of Tall Dark Stranger, nabbed a maiden-breaking win in his Bluegrass division last week by a head over Downbytheseaside gelding Ocean Party while subsequently denying that stablemate his maiden-breaking score. Burke also sends out the maiden Midwind Buxton (Joe Bongiorno, post eight, 8-1) from a tough trip in the Grade 3 Elevation on Sept. 25 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park in a race that also includes prominent finishers from last week’s Bluegrass in Fairway To Heaven (Andy McCarthy, post seven, 9-2) and Vandros (Tim Tetrick, post six, 6-1).

Rumble And Sway (Tim Tetrick, post four, 2-1) fronts the charge for the other $104,000 USD International Stallion Stakes division for freshman pacing males, carded as race 12 and sponsored by the Captaintreacherous Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farms. The Brett Pelling pupil glided over the mud from the pylon draw for a pillar-to-post win in 1:51.4 by 5-1/2 lengths in his Bluegrass dash last week. The son of Sweet Lou will face another Bluegrass division winner in Blazin Lou (Todd McCarthy, post nine, 7-2) inside of this race along with Grandline Station (Joe Bongiorno, post five, 8-1), who finished runner-up to Blazin Lou last week at odds of 51-1, in the nine-horse field.

First-race post time for the 14-race card on Friday is 1 p.m. 

(With files from The Red Mile; photo of Birr Castle winning the Jim Doherty Memorial at Hoosier Park)