Jim Campbell trainee Cantab Fashion collected his fourth consecutive win from five starts career when trotting to an open-length 1:55.3 victory in the final division of the $343,000 Uncle Peter Bluegrass Two-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot, sponsored by Hickory Lane Horse Farms, on Thursday at The Red Mile.
Away fourth at the quarter, Cantab Fashion sat off a :29.2 opening quarter set by 3-2 favourite Prospect Hill before tipping off the rail and moving first over for the top spot past a :59.3 half. Cantab Fashion took control midway around the final turn and held a two-length margin on Final Claim, left first over, and Prospect Hill heading to three-quarters.
Cantab Fashion continued on the front with a widening margin by three-quarters in 1:28. The 2-1 second choice trotted through the stretch under wraps as Kings County, rallying three wide from second over, took second ahead of Battenberg popping from the pocket for third and Prospect Hill holding fourth.
A colt by Cantab Hall, Cantab Fashion pushed his career bankroll to $64,500 for owner Fashion Farms LLC. David Miller sat behind the $6.20 winner.
Aldebaranwalkabout stormed home widest on the course to pull a 29-1 upset in the $86,000 first division following a disqualification of race favourite Dont Letem.
Wittyville took the top from the inside with Brady Bunch getting away second and 4-5 favourite Dont Letem floating into contention third. Past the quarter in :29, Dont Letem took the lead and trotted uncontested to the half in :57.2.
Trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt pulled first over from fourth with Sheenas Boy rounding the final turn and marched to match strides with tempo-setter Dont Letem by three-quarters in 1:27.1. Sheenas Boy retreated into the stretch as Takter kept Dont Letem, drifting off the rail, on stride through the lane. Brady Bunch, off the rail trip, angled towards the center of the track while Wittyville slid through a gap at the inside and Aldebaranwalkabout, trailing the on-stride pack throughout, charged through the center of the course.
Dont Letem went into a pace in the final sixteenth of the mile and broke stride nearing the wire. Aldebaranwalkabout surged and snagged the second spot in a photo with Brady Bunch third and Wittyville fourth. Because of the break, Dont Letem was disqualified to eighth, placing Aldebaranwalkabout as the race winner.
Returning $61.20 to win, Aldebaranwalkabout, a Muscle Hill colt trained by Jonas Czernyson, won his second race from five starts, earning $53,300 for owner Aldebaran Park Inc. Andrew McCarthy sat in the bike.
William Wellwood Memorial winner Green Manalishi S cruised as the 1-9 favourite to a 1:56.1 open-length victory in the $85,000 second Bluegrass split.
Driver Tim Tetrick placed the Marcus Melander trainee third behind pacesetter Dylan The Great through a :29.2 opening quarter. Green Manalishi S made his move for the lead midway through the backstretch and brushed to the front at the half in :58.1.
Super Schissel edged first up from fourth moving into the final turn as Dylan The Great lost ground to the inside and Green Manalishi S opened his lead. Through three-quarters in 1:28.1, Green Manalishi S held a three-length lead while Trix And Stones, from off cover, rallied through the center to take second from Super Schissel in third and Dylan The Great holding fourth.
Winning his fifth race from seven starts, Green Manalishi S, by Muscle Hill, has now compiled $343,257 in earnings for owner Courant Inc. Tim Tetrick drove the $2.10 winner.
Chin Chin Hall ranged to the top from off cover in the stretch to pull a 14-1 upset in the $86,000 third division of Bluegrass in 1:55.4.
Positioned fifth as Amico Mio Bi, Forecast and Union Forces battled three wide for the lead to the quarter, Chin Chin Hall sat off a :28.1 opening quarter set by Union Forces circling to the front. Amico Mio Bi, shuffled to third, flushed first over as Hudson River strode into contention past a :57.2 half.
Amico Mio Bi overtook Union Forces moving around the final turn and left Hudson River uncovered. Chin Chin Hall angled off the rail and caught cover second over as Amico Mio Bi trotted past three-quarters in 1:27.2. Hudson River moved to the lead into the stretch as Chin Chin Hall kicked off cover and gradually progressed to the front heading to the line. Hudson River held second from Forecast lunging towards the rail for third and Amico Mio Bi lengths behind in fourth.
Paying $31.60 to win, Chin Chin Hall, a colt by Cash Hall, won his first race in his second start career, earning $43,000 for owners David Mc Duffee and Gene Oldford Farms LLC. Peter Wrenn sat at the reins for trainer Melanie Wrenn.
Grand Circuit action continues at The Red Mile Friday, Sept. 28 with two-year-old filly trotters competing in four divisions of the $373,000 Norman Woolworth Memorial Bluegrass Stakes and two-year-old filly pacers in three divisions of the $273,100 Artspeak Bluegrass Stakes. The program starts with a first-race post at 7:00 p.m.
(The Red Mile)