After nearly two months of competition, the Kentucky Championship Series finals worth a combined $3.2 million USD will take place at The Red Mile on the 13-race Sunday Night Lights Sept. 14 card, sponsored by Crawford Farms.
Eight $400,000 USD contests will produce newly crowned champions in the Commonwealth.
Fresh off her triumph in her Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final, Miki And Minnie, the sport’s top-ranked horse in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Poll, returns to Lexington on a seven-race win streak in the championship for three-year-old filly pacers.
Miki And Minnie brings a seasonal record of 11-10-1-0 to The Red Mile with her only loss this season in the Keystone State by a head. The daughter of Always B Miki-Thats The Ticket will have the services of the track’s leading driver, Dexter Dunn, and will begin pacing from post two in the field of seven. The Chris Ryder trainee is 3-5 on the morning line.
Already a Kentucky champion, the Dan Patch Award winner brushed off a surge from world champion Looksgoodinloulou (Yannick Gingras, PP5, 9-2) to win the third leg of this series in 1:50 last month. Competing as a homebred for Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo, and Lawrence Minowitz, Miki And Minnie possesses a career resume of 22-16-5-1 and has earned $2.1 million.
Rivals Brandon Blvd and Ubrute will meet again in the championship for two-year-old male pacers.
Brandon Blvd (Tim Tetrick) began his brief career with four straight victories, including the first three legs of this series before Ubrute (Gingras) collared the colt in the lane in the final preliminary leg in 1:50.1. Trained by Andrew Harris, Brandon Blvd is a son of Downbytheseaside-Alexis Faith. His record is 5-4-1-0 and his bankroll is $201,219. He and Tetrick drew post four in the field of 10 and are 6-5 on the morning line. Bred by Crawford Farms LLC, Brandon Blvd was a $574,324 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale purchase in 2024 for William Pollock, Bruce Areman, and Harris.
Like Brandon Blvd, Ubrute has plenty of pedigree as the son of Tall Dark Stranger and world champion Warrawee Ubeaut. The colt is a member of the Burke Brigade, as was his dam, who remains the co-fastest two-year-old pacing filly over this oval. It took a few starts for Ubrute to exhibit his ability, but after compiling a record of 4-1-1-1 and earning $96,667, the colt seems to have found his best stride in this series. He also enters with momentum after breaking his maiden and snapping Brandon Blvd’s win streak last out. The colt was bred by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Crawford Farms Racing, J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby, and Phillip Collura. He is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Hatfield Stables, and Collura.
Setyoursightshigh will aim for her sixth straight victory as she vies for the two-year-old filly trotter crown. Drawn in post nine in the field of 10, the daughter of In Range-Special Interest will have Dunn holding the lines for trainer Marcus Melander. The filly is 3-5 on the morning line.
Setyoursightshigh places her win streak on the line after capturing two Ohio Sire Stakes legs and the first two rounds of this series. She returned from a second-place finish in her debut to take the Next Generation at Eldorado Scioto Downs, then won the Kentucky Sire Stakes Final at Oak Grove Racing in July. She is six-for-seven lifetime. The filly was bred by Kentuckiana Farms LLC and was selected for $67,568 at last year’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale by Heights Stable, Mantorp LLC, AMG Stable Inc., and K Kjellgren Livs AB Inc. She has earned $362,102.
Fellow leg winners Carve (Andrew McCarthy, PP3, 9-2) and Leading Lady (Gingras, PP10, 9-2) appear to be the filly’s main opposition.
Yo Tillie will aim to extend her winning streak to 12 in the final for sophomore trotting distaffs. Todd McCarthy and Yo Tillie will begin their mile from the rail and are 3-5 on the morning line in the field of nine. Trained by Andrew Harris, the daughter of Tactical Landing-Consolidator has not lost since she finished third in last year’s championship behind Aperfect Annie (James MacDonald, PP8, 15-1) and Torrisi (Tetrick, PP4, 9-2).
Yo Tillie, who checks in at number three on the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Poll, was purchased privately by Pollock, Areman, and her trainer after she won her Kentucky Sire Stakes Final at Cumberland Run last fall. Yo Tillie was bred by GBW Breeding Farms Inc. and Black Creek Farm. She is 20-16-1-1 lifetime and has earned $996,002.
Bahama Momma will seek to assert herself in the two-year-old filly pace division. Trained by Joe Bongiorno, she and Scott Zeron will commence their championship journey from post three in the field of eight and have received a 9-2 morning-line billing. The daughter of Tall Dark Stranger and champion Idyllic Beach is 6-3-2-0 in her young career with $172,859 in her bank account. She will need to rebound from an early break and eighth-place finish in her Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final last out. Bred by Christina Takter, Marvin Katz, and Brixton Medical Inc., the filly was purchased privately by Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Odds On Racing.
Topville Lucky (Dunn, PP6, 8-5) and Beautiful Memory (MacDonald, PP2, 8-1) were the fillies who bested Bahama Momma during the preliminary rounds. Topville Lucky, the morning-line chalk, is three-for-four with $130,899 in bankroll. She won her last two starts in the series for trainer Erv Miller before being acquired by Pollock, Areman, and Harris. Harris now trains the daughter of Sweet Lou-Warrawee Winx, who was bred by Jeremy Yoder.
Another filly worth a look is Gala (Todd McCarthy, PP7, 7-2). The daughter of Downbytheseaside-Sweetest Emotion was a strong second to Topville Lucky in the final leg of this series after stepping up in class from the Commonwealth Series with only two starts on her record.
Endurance will look to go the distance in the series and win his sixth straight race in the rookie colt trot tilt. Andrew McCarthy will be in the sulky for trainer Chris Beaver, leaving from post four in the field of eight. Endurance and McCarthy are 6-5 on the morning line and are undefeated in the three legs of the Championship Series they have contested. The son of Captain Corey-Love Session has not lost since his debut at Oak Grove in June. He is 6-5-0 and has collected $265,811 in purse money. Bred by Steve Stewart and Marti Ala-Seppala, the colt brought down the gavel for $19,444 at last year’s Harrisburg sale. He is owned by Super Endurance Stable, Bill Manes, Leo Fleming, and Mark Moger.
Super Chapter, Go Dog Go, and Mr Mouton will meet again for the final showdown of the three-year-old male trot division. After Super Chapter made an uncharacteristic break in the third leg of this series and Go Dog Go visited the winner’s enclosure, the tables were turned in the fourth leg as Super Chapter rebounded with the win while Go Dog Go went off stride.
Super Chapter and Dunn drew the rail for Melander and are 6-5 on the morning line in the field of 10. The Hambletonian runner-up, world champion, and defending Kentucky champion comes in as the fifth-ranked horse in the sport. The son of Chapter Seven-Lifetime Pursuit is 9-7-1-0 this season and 20-12-4-1 overall with $1.73 million in the bank. He was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, which co-owns the colt with Jeffrey Snyder and Arthur Pronti.
Go Dog Go and Todd McCarthy got post three and are 9-2 on the morning line for trainer Carter Pinske. The son of Greenshoe-Primary Target is out to atone for his miscue in the fourth leg. Bred by Wiesman Farms LLC and co-owned by that entity with Al Libfeld, the colt is 17-6-2-3 and has earned $646,133. He is four-for-seven this year.
World champion Mr Mouton is 2-1 on the morning line and drew post two. He will be steered by his trainer, Ake Svanstedt. The son of Chapter Seven-Burberry is lightly raced and established his mark of 1:50.1 over this very surface last month. Bred by Kevin Greenfield, the gelding is owned by Knutsson Trotting Inc., Little E LLC, Stolz Geiger, and Jorgen Sparredal Inc. Mr Mouton has a record of 8-4-3-0 and has earned $225,255 in purse money. He has won three of seven outings this campaign.
Sippinonsearoc will shoot for his fifth straight victory in the three-year-old male pacing championship. The sport’s fastest two-year-old of all time will compete for his first Kentucky crown after losing last year’s final to stablemate Louprint. Sippinonsearoc will have Gingras as his guide for trainer Ron Burke. The son of Downbytheseaside-Queen Ann M will begin pacing from the pylon post and is 6-5 on the morning line in the field of eight.
Sippinonsearoc has been superb since a fourth-place finish in the Adios in July. The colt has been dominant in winning three legs of this series and a round of the Ohio Sires Stakes prior to this appearance. Bred by Trent Stohler Stable Inc. and Alesha Binkley, Sippinonsearoc has demonstrated his affinity for the Bluegrass State with his world record of 1:48.2 last summer and two recent victories in the same clocking He possesses a resume of 22-11-4-2 and has banked $1.1 million. The colt is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, RAS Racing LLC, and Knox Services Inc.
Racing will continue through this week, following a Sunday-through-Tuesday schedule as Kentucky Sire Stakes Finals continue on Monday and Tuesday for the Commonwealth and Golden Rod Series, respectively. Fans and horsemen can look forward to a 5:05 p.m. post time on Sunday, and 1:00 p.m. post times on Monday and Tuesday throughout the meet before the Grand Circuit comes to town for its two-week stint. The meet officially concludes on Sunday, Oct. 5.
(With files from The Red Mile; photo of Miki And Minnie winning on Aug. 25)