The Kentucky Championship Series reached its conclusion on Sunday, Sept. 20 at The Red Mile with eight $563,380 finals for two- and three-year-olds of each sex and gait.
Wall Of Fame kept her undefeated record intact when she prevailed in an unrelenting stretch drive against Heart Of Secret to notch a lifetime-best-equalling 1:52 victory in the final for two-year-old trotting fillies.
Starting from the pylon post, driver Andy Miller slid smoothly into a mid-pack spot with Wall Of Fame as Kissme Ifyoucan (Austin Hanners) hustled outside of Fleur Delacour (Dexter Dunn) and Heart Of Secret (Yannick Gingras) to take the lead past a :27.3 first quarter. Wall Of Fame steadily tracked rivals until Miller angled her outside nearing a :56 half, where she fished cover from Heart Of Secret and remained perched behind that rival through the last turn.
Miller tipped Wall Of Fame three wide rounding by three-quarters in 1:24.2 and hit the front in the stretch but endured a stubborn challenge from Heart Of Secret. Heart Of Secret fought Wall Of Fame all through the lane until the final strides when she jumped off stride, leaving Wall Of Fame to register a game win by a neck. Fleur Delacour took second via placing of Heart Of Secret, who was disqualified to third for a lapped-on break at the finish.
“They were going pretty hard early, so I just bided my time a little,” Andy Miller said after the race. “Yannick’s filly [Heart Of Secret] raced really good down the lane there. We were neck and neck, but my filly raced super.”
Julie Miller trains Wall Of Fame, a daughter of Walner-Saadet, for owners Andy Miller Stable Inc., Jean Goehlen, Hutchison Harness LLC and Rick Huffman. The $83,333 purchase from the 2025 Lexington Selected Sale has won all nine of her starts and banked $783,652. She paid $2.46 to win.
Brett Pelling pupil Miss Jum Jabber rolled to the top early and put away her rivals late to notch her fifth consecutive win in 1:48 as she captured the final for three-year-old pacing fillies.
Driver Andy McCarthy wrangled the headstrong Miss Jum Jabber to the fore out of post five through a :27.3 first quarter and glided through middle sectionals of :55.1 and 1:22.3 under minimal threat. When straightening for the finish, Miss Jum Jabber darted clear of her competition with a :25.2 final quarter to register a widening 3-1/2-length victory in a lifetime-best mile. Hope Hill (Dexter Dunn) gave pursuit from a pocket trip for second with Bahama Momma (Joe Bongiorno) rallying up the inside for third.
“I figured I’d float out today just to see what was going on,” Andy McCarthy said after the race. “Brett kind of gave me the green light going onto the track – he said ‘If you got to go, go. She’ll be fine.’ It just worked out where I figured if we were going to go easy fractions, it might as well be me.”
Purchased for $90,541 from the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale and unraced as a freshman, Miss Jum Jabber has won 13 races from 15 starts and banked $845,497 for owner Pelling Racing LLC. The filly by Bettors Wish-Treacherous Reign paid $2.50 to win.
Andrew Harris trainee Brandon Blvd reclaimed the crown as the North American season leader in earnings with a dominant 1:48 victory in the final for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings.
Sent away as the 1-5 favourite, driver Dexter Dunn eased Brandon Blvd towards the front after Sea Bistro Hanover (Todd McCarthy) cleared to the lead out of post nine to a :26.3 first quarter. Brandon Blvd slid to the top and settled briefly before readying for a first-up bid from Funky Buddha (Tim Tetrick) approaching a :54.2 half. Funky Buddha drew to equal terms with the leader into the final turn, but Brandon Blvd repelled that challenger coming off three-quarters in 1:21 and kicked two lengths clear coming for home. Dunn geared down his charge in the final eighth as he coasted to a comfortable 1-1/4-length win over Funky Buddha with Sea Bistro Hanover finishing third.
“(Brandon Blvd is) such a beautiful horse,” Dunn said after the race. “He’s just gone mile after mile putting in great runs. I can’t complain about his year, and he’s turning up every time he’s asked. It makes my job easy driving when you have a versatile horse like that. He’s on top of his game and he’s on top of the crop at the moment.”
Brandon Blvd, a son of Downbytheseaside-Alexis Faith purchased for $574,324 at the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, has now won eight races from 11 starts this season and 15 races from 21 starts in his career, amassing $2,124,003 in earnings. He is owned by Punisher 11 Stable LLC. The win also propelled him past Super Chapter to lead all Standardbreds in North America by earnings on the season with $1,135,695 USD banked. He paid $2.72 to win.
Dunn and Harris combined for another winner earlier in the card when Dunn kept Seaside Ubeaut steady through rough steps on the last turn and regathered her momentum in the stretch to post a 1:49.2 victory in the final for two-year-old pacing fillies.
Seaside Ubeaut settled into fifth from the pylon post while Banana Beach (Andy McCarthy) bolted for control to a :26.4 first quarter. Dame Frances (Atlee Bender), parked through the first turn, soon swooped to the lead in the backstretch, prompting 6-5 favourite Kountry Legacy (Trace Tetrick) to pull from fourth as the tempo slowed to a :55 half. Seaside Ubeaut followed briefly from second-over and swiftly marched forward once Kountry Legacy planted onto the lead into the final turn. Despite veering nearly four-wide past three-quarters in 1:22.4, Dunn kept Seaside Ubeaut to task in the stretch to clinch the win by a length. My Taylors Swift (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) rallied from near last for second while Kountry Legacy settled for third.
“She’s been a tricky filly actually,” Harris said after the race. “She gets into a knee a little bit and she is a little bit hot, so we’ve been working with her, changing her bit a few times, changing her shoeing a few times. Tonight it was clicking. She still wasn’t perfect – she kind of blew the last turn there, but she’s fast enough. So if she can get it together in her head, she’s going to be a really nice filly next year.”
A filly by Downbytheseaside out of world champion Warrawee Ubeaut, the winner was purchased for $694,444 last fall at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Seaside Ubeaut, owned by Punisher 11 Stable LLC, collected her third victory from six starts and has banked $380,720. She paid $16.12 to win.
Yonkers Trot champion Inexpressable sailed uncovered through the last turn and muscled down the stretch to win the final for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings in a 1:49.3 effort, just two-fifths of a second off the world record.
Silverstein (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) motored alongside stablemate Requiem (Andy McCarthy) to the top through the first turn with Captain Naughty (Yannick Gingras) following in the wings through a :27.3 first quarter. Captain Naughty looped to the lead in the backstretch and carried his speed towards a :54.3 half while Silverstein wobbled into a gallop. Inexpressable (Scott Zeron) angled off the pylons from third entering the far turn and zipped smoothly towards the lead as Captain Naughty tired off three-quarters in 1:22.4. Once in front, Inexpressable spurted clear and held his momentum to the finish for a 4-3/4-length win chased by American Power (Dexter Dunn) in second. Lucchese (Joe Bongiorno) rallied to take third via disqualification of Zephyr Kemp (Todd McCarthy), who finished third but was placed fourth for going inside a pylon in the stretch.
“He felt super good the whole year and just gets better and better each race,” winning trainer Lucas Wallin said after the race. “In the last turn he looked very good. I thought it would maybe be a long stretch for him but he just kept going. Scott has given him a lot of nice races this year.”
Wallin owns Inexpressable, a Walner-Ineffable colt purchased for $439,189 at the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, through his Wallin Racing Stable Inc. and with co-owner Karin Walter-Mommert. The colt, who Wallin said is aiming next for the Kentucky Futurity, won his fifth race from nine starts this season and his seventh race from 14 starts in his career. He has now earned $857,467. The win price was $5.48.
Dunn notched his first in a hat trick of stakes wins when he secured a pocket seat with Gobstopper through an early shuffle and then zipped through an inside seam in the stretch to snag the final for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings.
Dunn floated Gobstopper out of post six and found a helmet to follow in stablemate Blazin Lou (Todd McCarthy) as they ranged up towards early leader Seine (Joe Bongiorno) to a :27.3 first quarter. Blazin Lou swept to the lead with Gobstopper soon overtaking before Rumble And Sway (Tim Tetrick) slid forward to take control. Rumble And Sway clocked a :54.4 half and cruised through the final turn as Blazin Lou mounted another challenge for the lead first-up.
Blazin Lou matched strides with Rumble And Sway by three-quarters in 1:23 before being rebuffed into the stretch. Rumble And Sway drifted when sprinting for the finish, giving Gobstopper a seam to dart through and seize control late in the race for a 1:50.2 win by a half-length. Seine charged through traffic to the centre of the track to take second with Rumble And Sway finishing third.
“Bit of action early there – he’s been really good in the sires stakes down here,” Dunn said. “We got the front, followed Timmy [Tetrick with Rumble And Sway] there, [and] once he got that gap up the straight, he really let down good.”
Tony Dinges trains Gobstopper, a son of Sweet Lou-Captiva Island, for owner Rick Berks, who purchased the colt from the 2025 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale for $104,167. Gobstopper has now won five races from eight starts and amassed $467,563 in earnings. He paid $6.30 to win.
Whateverittakes As capitalized on a golden trip by driver Tony Hall to score a minor upset in the final for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings.
Hall pushed Whateverittakes As towards the front from post two and readied to yield command as 6-5 favourite Command Center (Dexter Dunn) loomed outside with Captain Kenny J (Todd McCarthy) on his back, but the chioce bobbled off stride passing a :28 first quarter. Captain Kenny J then strolled up to the top and took the field to the half in :56.2 and continued through the far turn while facing minor first-over pressure from Top Reacher (Scott Zeron) to three-quarters in 1:24.3. Top Reacher retreated straightening for home, giving Hall ample room to pull Whateverittakes As to the outside. The colt stretched by Captain Kenny J in the lane for a 1-1/4-length win in 1:53, a lifetime best. Carbon Fiber (Yannick Gingras) rallied from second-over for third.
“Starting his racing career, everything’s just come naturally to him,” Hall said after the race. “[Command Center breaking stride] really didn’t change much for me. I just wanted to be as close as I could be to the front and then tip off of somebody. Linda’s horse [Captain Kenny J] is not a bad horse – he trotted [1:]51[.4] last week – so I had no issues following him.”
Anette Lorentzon trains Whateverittakes As, a homebred Walner-Fortunes Dream colt for owner ACL Stuteri Ab. The colt collected his third win from five starts and has banked $345,984. He paid $13.46 to win.
Shes Moni challenged early for the top and held full authority to take the final for three-year-old trotting fillies in a 1:50.2 mile.
Islandgirl Hanover (Joe Bongiorno) barrelled out of post 10 and crossed to the lead through the first turn while Shes Moni (Yannick Gingras) pressed up the rim to contest control through a :27.3 first quarter. Shes Moni surged to the lead and coasted towards a :55.3 half with no challengers approaching. Victorianas Secret (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) flushed off the pylons from third into the last turn for a bid but faltered after three-quarters in 1:23.4. Shes Moni spun for home on a comfortable lead and crossed the beam two lengths in front of Islandgirl Hanover, who clung to second from Godusa (Todd McCarthy) in third.
“Yannick put his destiny into his own hands today and it worked out good,” said trainer Nancy Takter, who also indicated Shes Moni is pointing next for the Kentucky Filly Futurity. “She’s just such a good filly, so I really wasn’t worried when she got to the front. I knew she’d have plenty to go. I was pretty confident going in with her.”
Shes Moni, a homebred Walner-Thats All Moni filly for Brittany Farms LLC and Marvin Katz, won her third race from nine starts this season and her fourth race from 10 starts in her career, bringing her bankroll to $394,593. She paid $8.68 to win.
Live harness racing at The Red Mile resumes on Monday with a 15-race card headlined by eight $100,000 USD finals of the Kentucky Commonwealth Series for two- and three-year-olds. The race week wraps on Tuesday with a 16-race slate featuring eight $50,000 USD Kentucky Golden Rod Series finals for two- and three-year-olds. First-race post time both days is 1 p.m. (EDT).
(The Red Mile)