The $264,000 International Stallion Stakes (ISS) for two-year-old colt and gelding trotters was contested in five divisions on the Thursday, October 8 program at the Red Mile. Headlining the action was Ron Burke’s Southwind Frank, a son of Muscle Hill out of Flawless Lindy, who broke the world record of 1:53.2 set by Centurion ATM in 2014.
In a robust closing effort, Southwind Frank strided to the wire in 1:52.2 by open lengths over Lagerfeld and Mavens Way.
Mavens Way sprinted on the lead and established fractions of :27.2, :55.4, and 1:24.4. Drafting behind the leader, Lagerfeld was flushed first over approaching the head of the stretch, with Southwind Frank caught third over in the flow. Once in the stretch, driver Yannick Gingras fanned Southwind Frank towards the centre of the course and accelerated by everyone as he sped to the wire clear.
Owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Our Horse Cents Stable, and Jerry and Theresa Silva Stables, Southwind Frank paid $2.10 to win. This was his ninth win in 10 starts this season.
“We’ve been looking to race him from the back, but you’re 1-9 sometimes and everyone else is waiting for you,” Gingras said. “Today, nobody was waiting for us, and it was a good thing. I wanted to race him from the back and trot home. He sure did.”
“It’s definitely cool,” Gingras also said in response to driving the world’s fastest two-year-old trotters at Lexington. “I’m fortunate enough to drive for two powerful stables that have a lot of babies and young trotters. It’s definitely been a thrill, and now both of them are great horses (the other being Mission Brief).”
Commandeering the lead after stalking a battle, Milligan’s School advanced to a 1:53.3 performance to take the first division of the ISS.
Make Or Miss led through a :29 first quarter before going off stride in the backstretch, allowing the then-three-wide Hititoutofthepark to circle by Honor Above All for control. Driver Andy Miller pulled Milligans School off the rail and charged him to the lead, clearing through a :57.3 half. Being challenged only by first-over Celebrity Express through a 1:26.1 third-quarter, Milligan’s School accelerated for the finish. Hititoutofthepark chased for second, while Celebrity Express held on for third over Honor Above All.
Now a winner in five of 11 tries this season, Milligan’s School, a son of Yankee Glide out of the S Js Photo mare Tori Ann, paid $3.60 to win. He is owned by Stroy Inc. and trained by Julie Miller.
“A couple of them were living pretty good on the inside,” Andy Miller said. “There was a little bit of movement into the first turn, and I just waited until we got to the backside. Corey (Callahan on Hititoutofthepark) made the front there and took a hold of his horse a little bit, so I let my horse trot up by him there and he was just strong the rest of the way.”
“I think he’s over them,” Miller also said about Milligan’s School’s breaking issues. “It was a little bit unfortunate in the (Pennsylvania) Sires Stakes final (when he broke); I thought he had a big shot at winning that, and the horse (Love Matters) began to run in front of him. David (Miller) was driving him that day, and when he moved him (Milligan’s School) to go around that horse, he tipped over, so I don’t really think it was his fault that day.”
With the 1-5 favourite Love Matters breaking before the half, pocket-sitter Hollywood Highway pounced on the vulnerable leader Sliding Home to take the second division of ISS in 1:54.2.
On the lead, Sliding Home set fractions of :29.1, :57.2, and 1:26.4. By the far turn, only Hollywood Highway and Desert Runner were in contact with the leader, but Desert Runner became rough gaited during his stretch bid, leaving Hollywood Highway and Sliding Home to compete for the top spot. Already out of the pocket, Hollywood Highway began to slide by Sliding Home by the eighth pole and extended to a three-length win over Sliding Home and Desert Runner.
Hollywood Highway, a son of Muscle Massive out of L A Freeway, returned $12.00 to win. He won his third race in six starts this season, and is owned by Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld, trained by Staffan Lind, and driven by Tim Tetrick.
“He was sold for $50,000 last year, and Staffan Lind’s owner purchased him,” Katz said. “They took him back to the farm and x-rayed him, and they really didn’t like them. They called us and said ‘Can we have our money back?’ We said ‘Sure, if you want, we’ll take half; whatever you’d like.’ They said they wanted their money back. So we took him back, sent him to Jimmy Glass’s farm, and he did some vet work on him.
“He didn’t go into training until near the middle of February,” Katz also said. “Staffan (Lind) was the trainer who purchased him originally, so we sent him back to Staffan, and he has done a great job. He has really turned into a top-end colt.”
“(Jimmy) Takter’s horse made a break, but that happens,” Tetrick said. “Staffan really likes this horse; he’s said he has been coming along good. Last week on the front, he just didn’t like that and he fell asleep, but the colt raced good, trotted to the wire well. It was very pleasing.”
Brooklyn Hill was game in his 1:53.1 effort in the fourth division of the ISS. Sitting second to Southwind Flash off a :27.4 first quarter, driver David Miller sent the Jonas Czernyson trainee around the leader and to the lead before the half. Once in control, he trotted fractions of :56.1 and 1:24.4 before experiencing serious opposition from Dog Gone Lucky, who pulled first over around the turn. They were throat to throat through the stretch, but Brooklyn Hill, despite losing the lead slightly in the battle, reemerged victorious.
Finishing third was Brownie Hanover.
Brooklyn Hill, a colt by Muscle Hill out of the Conway Hall mare Brooklyn, claimed his second win in 10 starts this season. He competes for the interests of SRF Stable.
“He raced really, really good,” Miller said. “He has been racing great all along, but he has just been up against Southwind Frank a lot. He might not have been at his best up in Canada (in the $283,480 William Wellwood Memorial), but he was definitely really good today.”
“Yeah… We keep finishing second to him (Southwind Frank) all the time,” Miller also said in regards to Brooklyn Hill’s earnings of over $160,000 this season.
In the final ISS division, the Ake Svanstedt-trained Dupree scored his third win in eight starts this season with a 1:53.4 mile. He took control from Treasure Keys K through a :28.2 first panel, but then yielded to Bar Hopping heading to the half. He went :55.4 and 1:25.1 on the front and turned for home about two-lengths clear of Dupree, who just angled to the outside. By the midpoint of the stretch, Dupree began to approach Bar Hopping and was soon alongside the Jimmy Takter trainee, eventually pulling away from him and towards victory.
Petrossian As finished third.
A colt by Andover Hall out of Hustle N Muscle, Dupree competes for the interests of Knutsson Trotting Inc. and Courant A B. With Ake Svanstedt in the sulky, Dupree paid $4.60 to win.
“We’ve always had high thoughts about this horse,” assistant trainer Bernie Noren said. “He got a little sick in the middle of the season, but he really showed us the horse he’s supposed to be. I knew he was going to race good in the (Pennsylvania) Sires Stakes final at the Meadows and the driver (Aaron Merriman) drove him carefully up there.”
“Last week, the track was so heavy,” Noren also said. “You can see today that the horse (Dupree) is running much faster. He’s really good and showed he has a really good head, answering to the horse on the inside (Bar Hopping) and the outside (Petrossian As).”
“If everything works out okay and he works fine tomorrow we’re going to go for the Breeders Crown, of course,” Noren also said. “But this is a very tough group; very talented horses have won today, so it’s going to be tough to come up there, too.”
Live racing resumes Friday, October 9, with three divisions of the $224,100 ISS two-year-old filly pace and four divisions of the $272,000 ISS two-year-old colt and gelding pace. First-race post time is 1 p.m.
(Red Mile)