Command, Brodeur and Caviart Donovan were the stars of Tuesday's (June 27) Kentucky Sire Stakes competition for three-year-olds at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel by virtue of track-record performances in their respective $25,000 second-round events.
In the second division for pacing colts and geldings, carded as Race 8, Command sat off a hotly contested :54.3 first half before making a three-wide push to the lead up the backstretch and evading A Cool Moment (driven by Joey Putnam) by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:50, the fastest mile ever at Oak Grove by a three-year-old pacing gelding. Tim Tetrick drove the son of Captaintreacherous, who paid $3.22 to win, for Brett Pelling and Diamond Creek Racing.
Three races earlier, Caviart Donovan and driver Tyler Shehan waited patiently in midfield before angling off the pegs with three-sixteenths to go and splitting foes in upper stretch en route to a 1:50.3 win — and a new track record for three-year-old pacing colts — over Tip Top Cat (Yannick Gingras) and Admiral Hill (Tim Tetrick), who duelled up the backstretch. Trainer Marna Shehan co-owns the victorious Always B Miki colt, who paid $20.56, with Amanda Stephens, David Arboe and Mitchell Bean.
In the second split for male trotters (Race 7), Brodeur and driver Tyler Smith brushed to the fore with a lap to go before out-sprinting a late charge from 6-5 favourite Espresso (Andy Miller) by 3-1/2 lengths in 1:53, a new track record for sophomore trotting colts. He paid $14.54 to win. Trainer Anette Lorentzon co-owns the son of Tactical Landing with ACL Stuteri AB and Kjell Johansson.
Lorentzon and Smith also teamed up to win the three-year-old filly pace with Keep My Secret ($57.70), who rallied to nose 1-9 favourite Charleston (Tim Tetrick) in 1:51.2. Trotting gelding Talent Scout (1:55.4, Tim Tetrick, $2.84) and trotting filly Mambacita (1:53.3, $2.52, Yannick Gingras), both sent to the post odds-on, completed the day's slate of stakes winners.
All eight $100,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes series finals will take place next Tuesday, July 4.
Live harness racing at Oak Grove resumes Sunday, July 2. First post is 3 p.m. CDT.
(Oak Grove Racing)