Trainer Marcus Melander swept the pair of $198,571 International Stallion Stakes (Grade 3) divisions for two-year-old trotting fillies on Friday, Oct. 9 at The Red Mile with two longer-priced propositions in maidens A Tale Of Kemp and Sweetest Of All.
A Tale Of Kemp ripped from off the speed to stun at odds of 31-1 with a 1:52.4 effort in the first split for freshman trotting fillies.
Driver Todd McCarthy hustled A Tale Of Kemp out of post six and towards the top, but yielded as Pattys Girl (Tim Tetrick) and 1-9 favourite Birr Castle (Scott Zeron) loomed up the rim to a :28 first quarter. Pattys Girl took a brief lead before letting Birr Castle clear and the odds-on chalk strode comfortably to a :55.2 half before slowing for a breather to the last turn.
Caught Speeding (Yannick Gingras) tipped out of fourth to the last turn and blitzed onto equal terms with Birr Castle passing three-quarters in 1:24.2. Birr Castle re-engaged and repelled Caught Speeding in the stretch but clasped to a precarious lead in the final sixteenth. Pattys Girl shook free from the pocket and surged to a short-lived lead as A Tale Of Kemp soared from off the pylons and down the center of the track to collar her rivals late for a neck victory. Birr Castle held third.
“She was pretty keen going to the gate, so I was just hoping once we got out of there she’d settle for me and we did,” said Todd McCarthy after the race. “We were able to get a pretty good trip. Last week, we were kind of boxed in there, [but that] probably did us a favoir for this week — she was pretty confident there once she got daylight.”
A filly by Walner, out of the E L Titan mare Speed Titan, A Tale Of Kemp competes for breeders Kemppi Stables Oy and Suojalampi Stables, along with partners Sjoeblom Racing and A Tale Of Kemp Stable, all from Delray Beach, Florida. A $347,222 yearling purchse from the 2025 Lexington Selected Sale, she broke her maiden in the 10th start of her career after hitting the board five times prior and has now earned $172,220.
A Tale Of Kemp paid $64.58 for the upset win.
Sweetest Of All towered over her peers a few races later to sweep by for a 1:52.4 maiden-breaking win of her own, going away in the other International Stallion Stakes dash for freshman trotting fillies.
Driver Joe Bongiorno took Sweetest Of All back from the pylon draw and landed into fifth while Mine Mine Mine (Dexter Dunn) and Agano (Mattias Melander) pushed outside of Dejeuner (Andrew McCarthy) for the lead to a :29 first quarter. Agano cleared Mine Mine Mine to the backstretch and then stretched out favourite Beauts Cabaret (Yannick Gingras) as that filly marched up the rim to finally get to the pylons and to the lead past a :55.3 half.
As the tempo slowed to the last turn, Mine Mine Mine angled out of third and pressed uncovered towards Beauts Cabaret all while Bongiorno situated Sweetest Of All into a third-over position heading to three-quarters in 1:24.2. Mine Mine Mine ground past Beauts Cabaret turning for home as Bongiorno fanned Sweetest Of All to the center of the track and gathered steam to hit the lead entering the final eighth. Sweetest Of All spurted clear for a 2-1/4-length win over Two To The North (Todd McCarthy), rallying from near last for second, while Mine Mine Mine held third.
Scoring her first victory in the ninth start of her career, Sweetest Of All has now earned $146,267 for Swedish owner Vestmarka Ab. Bred by Moni Market Breeders, the Walner filly out of the Muscle Hill mare Sweet Shirley May was purchased from last fall's Lexington yearling sale for $263,889.
She paid $14.82 to win at odds of 6-1.
Last week's Bluegrass division winner Blazin Lou turned away another Bluegrass winner in 1-5 favourite Rumble And Sway to romp in a 1:49.1 lifetime best and win one of the $148,571 International Stallion Stakes divisions for two-year-old pacing males also contested on Friday afternoon.
Driver Todd McCarthy charged Blazin Lou from the outermost draw and brushed past early leader Rumble And Sway (Tim Tetrick) to take command past a :27.2 first quarter. Blazin Lou cruised up the backstretch towards a :55.1 half and remained on the muscle through the last turn, clocking three-quarters in 1:22.2 while gaining separation on Rumble And Sway.
McCarthy kept the Tony Dinges trainee to task in the lane as he widened his advantage to cross the line 3-1/2 lengths better than Rumble And Sway, chasing in second. Grandline Station (Joe Bongiorno) stayed on from a first-over push in the last turn for third.
“I’ve been pretty confident in him all along,” said Dinges after the race. “He hasn’t had the best of luck the last few weeks, but I knew it was in there.”
Rick Berks of Paris, Kentucky owns Blazin Lou, a colt by Sweet Lou out of Rocknroll Hanover mare Beautiful Lady. The colt, bound for the Breeders Crown eliminations next Friday at Scioto Downs, has now won four races from 10 starts and banked $222,179.
“I knew when he got to the half that we were probably in good shape,” said Berks, who purchased the colt bred by Cornerstone Stock Farm from the Lexington yearling sale last year for $152,778. “Tony’s been telling me all year he’s a super horse. He’s just coming into his own now.”
Sent postward as the second choice in the betting, Blazin Lou paid $9.90 to win.
Ron Burke trainee Stonebridge Blitz affirmed his maiden-breaking win in a Grade 3 Bluegrass division last week with an assertive 1:49.4 effort to take the other International Stallion Stakes division for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings.
Leaving from post four, driver Yannick Gingras floated Stonebridge Blitz towards a seat in fourth rounding the first turn but decided to press forward after early leader Hungry Marco (Scott Zeron) nearing a :27 first quarter. Stonebridge Blitz seized the lead but yielded command once stablemate Ocean Party (Dexter Dunn) sprung out of third and looped to the front through a :53.2 half.
Gingras kept a firm hold on Stonebridge Blitz circling the final turn as the gelding muscled out of the pocket to draw alongside Ocean Party to three-quarters in 1:21.3. Stonebridge Blitz maintained authority over the weary through the lane to notch a two-length victory with Ocean Party finishing second and Reflector (Todd McCarthy) closing for third.
Stonebridge Blitz has now won two races from 10 starts and earned $234,540 for owners Burke Racing Stable of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, Larry Karr of Boca Raton, Florida, Mark Rosenthal of Las Vegas, Nevada and Frank Baldachino of Harvey Cedars, New Jersey. Bred by Stonebridge Farm, the gelding by Tall Dark Stranger, out of Sweet Lou mare and former Burke trainee Shouldabeenatd, was purchased for $55,556 as a yearling from the Lexington sale.
He paid $6 to win as the 2-1 bettors' choice.
Live harness racing at The Red Mile will conclude for the 2026 season on Saturday, Oct. 10 with an 11-race card featuring nine graded stakes events capped by the $212,000 Glen Garnsey Memorial (Grade 2) in race 10 and the $365,000 Tattersalls Pace (Grade 2) in race 11. Saturday’s card includes a $9,971.73 carryover into a mandatory payout Pick 5 starting in race three as well as a $7,500 guaranteed Pick 4 starting in race six. Both the Pick 5 and Pick 4 are offered with an industry low takeout of 12 per cent. First-race post time for closing day is 1 p.m.
(With files from The Red Mile; photo of A Tale Of Kemp winning on Oct. 9)