The Red Mile's opening card of the Grand Circuit meet kicked off on Wednesday evening with two-year-old trotting fillies headlining the first round of Bluegrass Stakes.

Fashion Farms' undefeated homebred filly Broadway Donna extended her win streak to nine in a row in the first of two $129,500 Bluegrass divisions as she held off Ultimate Shopper in a photo finish over the off track.

David Miller drove the overwhelming 1-9 favourite, who made a backstretch brush from third at the :30.4 first quarter to take the lead from the quick-leaving outsider, Im Outstanding (Jimmy Takter). Broadway Donna then reached the half in :59.4 and trotted off by four lengths en route to three-quarters in 1:29.2, however, Ultimate Shopper (Tim Tetrick) gave the streaking filly a run for the money late in the mile. Still, Broadway Donna was able to hold on for the narrow score in 1:59 flat. Twice Is Right (Yannick Gingras) finished third.

"She's been terrific all year," said David Miller. "Tonight might not have been a good night for her and maybe the front end is not a good place to be. The track's punching in, it's pretty tiring and she was struggling with that, but she held tough.

"The rail is pretty deep. I tried to stay off the rail, but it was getting to her there late."

Jim Campbell trains the Donato Hanover-Broadway Schooner filly, who surpassed the half-million mark in career earnings.

Miller explained that Broadway Donna is scheduled to race at The Red Mile again next week and is being pointed towards the Breeders Crown.

In the second division, Celebrity Farms' filly Celebrity Eventsy defeated slight favourite All The Time in a two-horse race down the stretch with Brett Miller in the sulky, despite an injury, for trainer Staffan Lind.

Celebrity Eventsy, the 6-5 second choice in the field, left from post six and sprinted a :28.3 opening quarter before giving way to 4-5 favourite All The Time (Yannick Gingras) down the backstretch. All The Time had rushed up from third-place as they approached the half-mile mark in :58 and then fronted the field to three-quarters in 1:27.2 before Celebrity Eventsy tipped out of the pocket. Down the stretch, the top two fillies took off in a final quarter duel with Celebrity Eventsy ultimately getting up for the victory by half a length in 1:56.1. Dancing In Thehall (Ake Svanstedt) finished third.

"You go by the times of the rest of the races and this was a very, very good mile," noted Brett Miller.

The Manofmanymissions-Little Ms Queenie filly, who was a runner-up to Caprice Hall in the Peaceful Way Stakes, now has three wins and four seconds in eight career starts with her earnings approaching $200,000.

"She raced very well her last start in the Peaceful Way," added Brett Miller. "I actually turned the guy loose at the half and I'm not so sure if it didn't cost me the race, but she's a very nice filly."

Brett Miller was back in the sulky for The Red Mile's first Grand Circuit card, unaffected by a foot injury he sustained after last week's Little Brown Jug.

"I broke my right foot," explained Brett Miller. "Honestly though, I got a very good doctor and he gave me a boot to put on. It's actually a device underneath my driving boot and, truthfully, I can walk on it and it really doesn't feel that bad. It's no problem."