World-class harness racing will be on display at The Red Mile on Sunday (Oct. 7) as the Grand Circuit concludes its annual residency with several stakes events culminating to the meet’s finale: the Kentucky Futurity.
This year’s Kentucky Futurity, going as Race 12 on the afternoon, lured an overflow field of 12 for a purse of $430,000. Conditioner Marcus Melander will dispatch a powerful pair in Hambletonian runner-up Temporal Hanover and Periculum, the latter of whom scored a 1:50.3 victory in hand at The Red Mile last week. Mattias Melander will steer Temporal Hanover when he leaves from post five while Brian Sears will stick with Periculum out of post three.
A strong contingent will challenge the Melander charge, including Hambletonian winner Cool Papa Bell, who enters off a 1:53.1 stroll in the $90,000 Phil Langley at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. The first-, second- and third-place finishers from the Canadian Trotting Classic will also lay siege to the red clay with Slay (starting from post two), Pretender (post eight) and Fast As The Wind (post 10), respectively, hitting the track. Meanwhile, Branded By Lindy (post six) will try to regain his groove from winning the Kentucky Championship Series final after breaking stride in the Canadian Trotting Classic, and Ake Svanstedt will attempt to spring another surprise following a slight upset in the Bluegrass with Justice (post 11).
Race 10 will pin the sport’s top sophomore trotting fillies against other sophomore trotting fillies for the first time in this second half of the stakes season. Joviality S (post 12) and Jiggy Jog S (post eight) both took stabs against the boys in the Hambletonian, finishing second and fourth respectively, but have returned to competition against their peers with dominance. Jiggy Jog S enters off a 1:50.1 performance in the Bluegrass while Joviality S will have to overcome the second tier off a 1:50.4 win in the Bluegrass. Dexter Dunn will drive Jiggy Jog S for trainer Ake Svanstedt and Brian Sears will pilot Joviality S for Marcus Melander.
Underneath the dynamic filly duo races Raised By Lindy (post 11), who enters off a 1:52.1 victory in the Elegantimage at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Kentucky Championship winner Date Night (post two) and runner-up Selfie Queen (post nine) will also compete along with Marcus Melander trainee Peyton Hanover (post three), who won a Bluegrass split in 1:51.2. And, though Hambletonian Oaks winner Fashion Schooner is absent, her stablemate Misswalner Fashion (post 10) will carry the torch from the outermost post in the overflow contest off a second-place finish in the $115,000 Moni Maker at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
Once he sparked the public’s imagination with his sizzling July into the record book at The Meadowlands, Bulldog Hanover’s appearance at The Red Mile has become one of the more anticipated dates on the calendar. He will step onto the track in Race 11, scoring from post five, in the $153,000 Allerage Farms Open Pace – a race that cemented the speed of Always B Miki in 2016 when he clicked the timer in 1:46. Dexter Dunn will drive the Jack Darling trainee in the race against history. The field also includes defending Allerage champ Allywag Hanover (post one), who enters off back-to-back second-place finishes to Bulldog Hanover (pictured above).
Earlier on the card, world champion trotting mare Atlanta has a race against time in the $57,000 Allerage Farms Fillies and Mares Trot, carded as Race 3. With only a handful of starts remaining in her racing career, the Ron Burke-trained triple millionaire will start from post one in rein to Yannick Gingras against her regular chief rivals When Dovescry (post five) and Next Level Stuff (post two). Sorella (post four), the 2020 Hambletonian Oaks winner, and near half-million-dollar earner Weslynn Quest (post three) complete the field.
Only four mares dare to challenge reigning U.S. Horse of the Year Test Of Faith in the $73,000 Allerage Fillies and Mares Pace, slated as Race 6. David Miller will drive the double millionaire for trainer Brett Pelling from post three.
Jujubee will return to the site of his greatest achievement in the $149,000 Allerage Farms Trot, going as Race 7. Andrew McCarthy will stay with the Greg Wright Jr. trainee as he makes his fourth start of the year following a late beginning to the season. He will start from post four off a third-place finish to Maple Leaf Trot champ Back Of The Neck in the $250,000 Dayton Trotting Derby. The field also includes Red Mile speed freak Cuatro De Julio (post two) and millionaire Its Academic (post six).
Race 4 will gather the pacing glamour boys for the $363,500 Tattersalls Pace. I Did It Myway will put a five-race win streak on the line from post three with Andrew McCarthy retaining driving duties for trainer Tony Alagna. Those threatening his streak include Brian Brown’s tough-luck Night Hawk (post one), Little Brown Jug runner-up Fourever Boy (post two), North America Cup champ Pebble Beach (post seven) and Bluegrass division winner All About The Hunt (post eight).
The pacing filly counterpart, the Glen Garnsey Memorial, will go as Race 8. Niki Hill will attempt to continue demonstrating her rank over the division after landing her first stakes win of the year with a 1:49 mile in the Bluegrass. Dexter Dunn will drive the Chris Ryder trainee from post four as she faces her stiffest contest yet against a field including Shady Daisy winner Max Contract (post one), Ohio Sires Stakes champ Sea Silk (post five) and Kentucky Championship winner Boudoir Hanover (post 11).
First-race post time for the season finale is 1 p.m. (EDT).
(With files from The Red Mile)