The Kentucky Championship Series wrapped up on Sunday night, Sept. 15 at The Red Mile with eight $540,541 finals.
Favourite Louprint came within two-fifths of a second of Sippinonsearoc's world record for freshman pacers, swooping the group after a contested opening half-mile and defeating that stablemate for the two-year-old colt pace championship title by three-quarters of a length in 1:48.4 with the front-stepping American Son finishing third between the Ron Burke trainees. Ronnie Wrenn Jr. drove the winning homebred Sweet Lou-Rockin Racer colt for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and Phillip Collura. Louprint is just a neck shy of a perfect rookie record, beaten just once by Sippinonsearoc in a leg of the Kentucky series, from seven starts.
Dame Good Time and driver Scott Zeron pulled off a big upset, defeating the streaking Hambletonian winner and defending Kentucky champion Karl by a neck in a career-best 1:50.2. After trading turns on the lead through back-to-back :27.3 opening panels, the pair raced 1-2 to three-quarters in 1:23.1 with a first-over Secret Agent Man in the mix but breaking stride midway down the lane before Dame Good Time got up at the pylons to steal the spotlight from Karl. Travis Alexander trains the Chapter Seven-Dame Du Lac gelding, who was sent off at odds of 17-1 in this win as well as his Zweig upset earlier this summer, for local owner and breeder John Cummins. Dame Good Time's winning time was one-fifth of a second off the world record for three-year-old trotting geldings.
Dexter Dunn collected three championship victories, including a pair with trotters trained by Marcus Melander. The winning Melander trainees were favoured two-year-old trotting colt Super Chapter (Chapter Seven-Lifetime Pursuit) in 1:52.1 and three-year-old trotting filly Date Night Hanover (Chapter Seven-Dont Wait Up) with a title defense in 1:50.1. Jeffrey Snyder shares ownership of the former with Arthur Pronti and the latter with Onda Racing Stable. Both winners took new lifetime marks.
Two-year-old pacing filly Miki And Minnie proved the step up to the Championship Series was the right move in the last leg and took top honours in her division as the odds-on favourite, nosing out Looksgoodinloulou in a 1:49.4 career-best effort at the hands of Dunn. Chris Ryder trains the homebred Always B Miki-Thats The Ticket filly, who has finished no worse than second in seven starts, for owners Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo and Lawrence Minowitz.
Todd McCarthy drove a pair of winners, including Diamond Creek's homebred trained by Brett Pelling, Direction (Always B Miki-Blood Red), who held off the quick-closing Geocentric to win the three-year-old filly pace for a new lifetime mark of 1:50 in a head decision, with Asweetbeachhere just a half-length back followed by favoured Fan Hanover champion Its A Love Thing. McCarthy also worked out the winning trip for two-year-old trotting filly champion Aperfect Annie (Googoo Gaagaa-Asixpakfromperfect) as the Carter Pinkse trainee overcame an outside post in a 1:53 career-best mile at odds of 29-1 for Pinske Stables, Melvin Hartman and Andray Farm.
Defending Kentucky champion Better Is Nice became harness racing's newest millionaire as he prevailed in the three-year-old colt pace from the pocket in a career-best 1:48 mile, with a :25.4 final quarter sprint landing him 2-3/4 lengths ahead of the popular pacesetter Women Layer. Andrew McCarthy drove the Bettors Wish-Thatsoveryverynice colt for trainer Tony Alagna. The Alagna Racing homebred is co-owned by Pryde Stables Inc. and Birnam Wood Farms.
The Commonwealth Series finals began on Sunday night with a pair of the divisional championships for the trotting fillies, each worth $135,135. Driver Yannick Gingras swept those events with two-year-old Deja Blu (Muscle Hill-Atlanta) in 1:53.2 for trainer Nancy Takter and three-year-old Star Attraction (Chapter Seven-Selena G) in 1:52.2 for the Ake Svanstedt stable.
(Standardbred Canada; Photos, clockwise from top left, of Louprint, Better Is Nice, Dame Good Time and Date Night Hanover)