Ohio champion Sea Silk brought her talents out of her native state to The Red Mile on Friday (Oct. 1), where the Ron Burke pupil punched her unbeaten card with a ninth victory when taking the second of two divisions of the $289,000 Bluegrass Two-Year-Old Filly Pace as the Grand Circuit rolled into Lexington.
Leaving from Post 6, driver Chris Page pointed Sea Silk to the top, putting Dont Fence Me In into the pocket heading to a :27.2 first quarter. She faced no challenge up the backside while Mermaid By The Sea, after breaking at the start, forged first over through a :55.3 half to apply pressure to the pacesetter around the final turn. Her uncovered bid promptly folded off three-quarters in 1:24.1, leaving Sea Silk with a pair of late challengers to deter.
Yes And Yes kicked off a second-over trip into the stretch and came surging for the front as Sea Silk began to drift off the pegs, creating an opening for Dont Fence Me In. Sea Silk battled from between the stubborn challengers to the finish and kept the pair at bay to win in a lifetime best 1:50.3 by a length. Dont Fence Me In settled for second with Yes And Yes finishing third and Treacherous Kiss checked in fourth.
“The only quirk she has is she’ll get a little lopey-gaited and looks like she’s got a problem, but as soon as you turn her and send her in the right direction and get her pacing, she just takes off,” said Mickey Burke Jr., assistant and brother of trainer Ron Burke, after the race. “She’s been just pacing from the start and going forward. [She] couldn’t be a nicer horse to deal with.”
The daughter of Downbytheseaside - Silk Purse has now accrued $451,092 from her nine starts for owners Burke Racing Stable & Weaver Bruscemi, Knox Services and Hatfield Stables. Sea Silk paid $2.40 to win.
Boudoir Hanover shut the door on 1-2 favourite Lyons Serenity when speeding clear to a sharp 1:49.4 score in the first division.
Driver Dexter Dunn dashed the daughter of Captaintreacherous - Bedroomconfessions to the point from Post 6 moving to a :28 first quarter. Lyons Serenity sat fourth in the stroll up the backside towards a :55.2 half before getting underway uncovered to the final turn. But Lyons Serenity’s first-over crawl faced no match to Boudoir Hanover around the final turn as the Tony Alagna trainee widened her advantage to three-quarters in 1:23.2 and expanded her lead through the straightaway sprint to finish 3-1/2 lengths in front at the beam. Galleria Hanover rode the pylons to snag third with A Girl That Twirls rallying from second over to take fourth.
Owned by Riverview Racing, Alagna Racing, Caviart Farms, Daniel Plouffe and Steven Head, Boudoir Hanover won her second race from nine starts, pushing her earnings to $178,634. She paid $5 to win.
Each division of the Bluegrass Two-Year-Old Filly Pace was sponsored by The McWicked Syndicate and Winbak Farm.
Kentucky Commonwealth champ Branded By Lindy made a graceful move into open stakes company when taking the top early and cruising to a 1:52 win in the second of five divisions for the $356,000 Bluegrass Two-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot.
Sent the 4-5 favourite, the son of Chapter Seven secured the lead past a :29 first quarter and cruised uncontested through middle fractions of :57.1 and 1:25. Temporal Hanover made minor first-over gains around the final turn but stalled off the corner as Branded By Lindy bolted to the finish with a :27 final quarter to win by 2-1/2 lengths over pocket-sitter Rose Run Xtra. Rebuff rallied from traffic troubles down the centre of the track for third while Temporal Hanover held fourth.
“He always showed he had a lot of speed, and we started going on we were going through some gait issues and clearing them up,” winning trainer Domenico Cecere said after the race of the colt’s progression. “We took our time, and we knew when we came to The Red Mile he would change a lot. We started to clean him up, clean him up and are very impressed in how gentlemanly he is now. And now, finally, he looks to me almost 100 percent.”
A homebred for Lindy Farms of Connecticut, Branded By Lindy collected his sixth victory from eight starts, pushing his earnings to $115,850. Yannick Gingras piloted the $3.60 winner.
Driver Mattias Melander kept Periculum flat around the track to nail 4-5 favourite World At War Deo in the opening division.
World At War Deo pressed for the lead past a :27.3 first quarter to pocket B A Superhero into the backstretch. Majestic J sat third while Periculum, wide around the first turn, settled to the pylons in fourth as the field marched single file to a :56.1 half.
Majestic J crept out of third rounding the final turn as World At War Deo attempted to quicken the tempo to three-quarters in 1:25. Off the turn, Majestic J ducked back to the inside while B A Superhero ranged out of the pocket and Periculum gathered momentum to the center of the course. The Marcus Melander trainee came charging into the final eighth after a leg-weary World At War Deo to get up in time to win by a half length in 1:53.1. B A Superhero finished between the top two in third with Majestic J checking in fourth.
Winning his second race from eight starts, Periculum has banked $67,406 for owners Holly Lane Stud East, Brixton Medical Ab and Howard Taylor. The Muscle Hill colt returned $8 to win.
Gigondas towered three-wide off a stalking trip in the third division to win in 1:53.4.
With 8-5 favourite Testing Testing losing stride before the start, Global Pandemic overcame a couple bad steps at the start to land on the lead to a :28.1 first quarter. Keg Stand sat second into the backstretch with Gigondas sitting third and Chulo racing parked as the leader trotted to the half in :57.
Global Pandemic maintained command around the final turn while Keg Stand slowly emerged out of the pocket with Gigondas sitting on his helmet to three-quarters in 1:25.4. The three rolled into the stretch spread across the track, with Global Pandemic folding to Keg Stand before Gigondas strolled alongside the late leader in the final strides and landed a head in front at the beam to win. Kens Walner finished fourth.
Trained by Tony Alagna, Gigondas won his second race from seven starts, pushing his earnings to $79,000 for owner Brad Grant. Andrew McCarthy piloted the Trixton colt, who paid $11 to win.
McCarthy and Alagna then teamed to slay even-money favourite Double Deceiver when the aptly-named Slay stormed to the lead late to win the fourth division in 1:52.4.
Letsdoit S led the field after a :28.4 first quarter with pylon-starter Golden Wall As sitting in the pocket. Double Deceiver raced fifth in a tepid tempo, prompting driver David Miller to blitz Letsdoit S for the lead to a :57.4 half and clear control before the final turn.
Double Deceiver opened enough ground on a lagging Letsdoit S to allow Slay, who tracked his backstretch move, to tuck into the pocket rounding the final turn as the favourite strode to three-quarters in 1:25. In the stretch, Double Deceiver raced extended to the inside while Slay surged from the pocket with fresh legs to edge to the lead in the final sixteenth and win by 1-1/2 lengths. Letsdoit S re-rallied between horses to take third with Golden Wall As taking fourth.
Making just his third start, Slay scored his second victory and pushed his bankroll to $39,506 for owners Crawford Farms Racing and James Crawford IV. The Chapter Seven colt paid $8 to win.
The final division also went to the hands of Andrew McCarthy, who this time teamed with trainer Jim Campbell to collect a 1:53.1 victory with Stride The Hill.
Classic Hill cleared command past a :28.4 first quarter as McCarthy pulled Stride The Hill off the pegs. He brushed to the top through the backstretch tracked by 8-5 favourite Looks Like Moni, who then assumed command by a :56.2 half. Looks Like Moni held the lead to three-quarters in 1:25 before breaking stride at the bottom of the turn. That left Stride The Hill on the point through the lane, and the Muscle Hill colt maintained the helm with ease to win over Classic Hill. El Toro Loco gave chase in third while Fast As The Wind took fourth.
“He was a colt training down that was smarter than I was,” Campbell said after the race. “He knew it didn’t count training, so we were forced to kind of take our time with him. First time he went behind the gate, he was a totally different horse and he’s been nothing but an improvement every start. Andy [McCarthy] asked me before the race ‘How is he?’ and I said you can race him any way you want. He’s always giving us a good kick finishing. I wasn’t surprised when Andy moved him [before the half].”
Stride The Hill broke his maiden with the win, his seventh start overall. Fashion Farms LLC owns the winner of $58,850, who paid $6.40 to win.
The first, third and fifth divisions of the Bluegrass Two-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Trot on Friday were contested as “The Muscle Hill”, sponsored by Southwind Farms. The second and fourth divisions were named “The Walner” and sponsored by the Walner Syndicate.
Racing resumes at The Red Mile on Saturday (Oct. 2) with five divisions for the $390,000 Norman Woolworth Bluegrass Two-Year-Old Filly Trot and three divisions for the $330,000 Stay Hungry Bluegrass Two-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Pace. First-race post time for the 11-race card is 1:00 p.m. (EDT).
(Red Mile)