Holy, Special Day and Whateverittakes As, none closer than fifth at the half, all closed from off the pace to win their divisions of the Grade 3 International Stallion Stakes on Thursday, Oct. 8 at The Red Mile.
Holy secured back-to-back Grand Circuit victories at The Red Mile after she thrusted to the top in the closing strides to snag the $232,857 division for two-year-old pacing fillies.
Leaving from post three, driver Todd McCarthy settled Holy into fifth while Sister Girl Blues (Dexter Dunn) brushed by early leader Aestas (Andy McCarthy) to grab command past a :27.4 first quarter. Sister Girl Blues coasted up the backside to a :55.4 half, at which point Holy tipped outside and pressed uncovered up the rim. Holy caught brief cover rounding by three-quarters in 1:23.3 when Aestas pulled from the pocket and edged past Sister Girl Blues, but then Holy swung three wide into the stretch and towered over her peers to snatch the win by a neck in a lifetime-best 1:50.3. Aestas settled for second while Jk Alwaysbpositive (Tim Tetrick) rallied from a second-over trip for third.
“We did and we always have [believed in her],” said Adam Bowden, who owns Holy through Diamond Creek Racing. “She’s a Sweet Lou-A Rocknroll Dance cross—we did it a couple years ago with Cannibal and Confederate, and here we are again.”
Brett Pelling trains Holy, a homebred out of Constellation, for Diamond Creek. The filly, after scoring a 13-1 upset with a 1:51.3 effort in the Grade 3 Bluegrass last week, has now won three times from eight starts and banked $239,187. She paid $24.28 to win.
Entering from a narrow defeat as the 3-2 favourite in a Grade 3 Bluegrass Stakes division last week, Kentucky Championship Series winner Whateverittakes As motored off cover to win the quicker of the two $192,857 divisions for rookie male trotters with a 1:52.3 effort.
Driver Tony Hall cruised from the outermost post in the octet to secure a mid-pack seat as Easy Down Blonde (Tim Tetrick) engaged with early leader Gustav Vasa (Marcus Melander) to a :27.4 first quarter. Easy Down Blonde continued pressing forward and cleared to control just before a :55.2 half, where Hall managed to flush cover into a third-over position moving to the last turn.
Mahalo (Scott Zeron) fronted the outside charge but withered once drawing to even terms with Easy Down Blonde to three-quarters in 1:25. Jazzy Blues (Todd McCarthy) tipped wide from second over spinning for home with Hall following suit. Whateverittakes As then barrelled down the center of the track to swoop to the lead and to the win by 1-1/4 lengths with End Result (Dexter Dunn) zipping through an inside seam from a stalking trip for second. Gustav Vasa held third.
“He’s pretty versatile,” Hall said after the race. “He’s good off a trip, he can leave quick. Once we started training him, he was just great about everything. He just kept getting better as the winter went on, and it seems like later in the year he just keeps getting a little better. He showed signs early [but] he’s got a couple little issues, so it’s up in the air if we’re going to go to the Breeders Crown or if this was going to be his last start. We’ll know in the next few days what we’re going to do.”
Anette Lorentzon trains Whateverittakes As, a homebred for ACL Stuteri Ab. The Walner colt, out of Cantab Hall mare Fortunes Dream, won for the fourth time from seven starts in his career and has now banked $474,913. He paid $2.88 to win.
Special Day soared off cover to post a 1:53.1 victory in the first division for freshman trotting males.
Offenbach (Scott Zeron) pushed for the early lead but yielded command when pocket-sitter Red Storm Hanover (Ake Svanstedt) circled towards the front with oncoming outside pressure approaching a :28.1 first quarter. Free Scottie (Mattias Melander), pushing on the outside through the first turn, broke stride moving to the backstretch, leaving stablemate Gagosian (Dexter Dunn) uncovered while Special Day tracked behind the action from fifth for Andy McCarthy. Gagosian meanwhile pushed uncovered towards Red Storm Hanover and then edged to the lead just after a :55.3 half.
As the tempo slowed to the last turn, The Reason (Yannick Gingras) tipped out of fourth to launch a first-over attack and McCarthy latched Special Day onto that cover. Red Storm Hanover then vacated as The Reason advanced, and Svanstedt’s charge matched strides with tiring Gagosian to three-quarters in 1:24.3. McCarthy launched Special Day three wide rounding for home, and the colt kept grinding forward to snatch the lead in mid-stretch and kick clear from there for a 2-1/2-length victory. Red Storm Hanover took second with The Reason staying on for third.
“I skipped one of the legs of the sire stakes and he’s starting to come back around,” winning trainer Chris Beaver said after the race. “I’ve noticed lately he’s got more life to him. I said if he won today, we’d think about [the Breeders Crown] pretty heavily.”
A colt by Walner out of Muscle Hill mare Hello Tomorrow, Special Day has now won three races from nine starts and earned $222,414 for owners Chris Beaver, Bill Manes and Leo Fleming. He paid $12.30 to win.
The International Stallion Series divisions were sponsored by The Cuddy Farms, Greenshoe Syndicate, Hanover Shoe Farms and Burke Racing Stable.
Live harness racing at The Red Mile resumes on Friday with a 14-race card headlined by the two divisions of the International Stallion Stakes for two-year-old trotting fillies and a pair of contests for two-year-old pacing males. First-race post time is 1 p.m. (EDT).
(The Red Mile; photo of Holy winning on Oct. 8)