Five divisions of the $30,000 third and last leg of the Kentucky Sires Stakes for two-year-old trotters took place on Thursday evening at The Red Mile on a pleasant but overcast evening with the track rated good to start the card after a brief shower just before the 7:00 post time and deteriorating slightly as the evening wore on.
The team from Lindy Farms led by trainer Domenico Cecere and driver Scott Zeron enjoyed another terrific night in the KYSS series with three winners and a pair of thirds in five starts on the card, all with homebreds. The Antonacci family also bred a fourth KYSS winner in Run Lindy Run under the KR Breeding stable name.
Two of those wins were in filly divisions with the last stake on the day another stage for the fearless Taylor Swiftly to perform, leaving her competition wondering why she’s gotta be so mean with another effortless win, her third consecutive in the KYSS series. Beginning from post 7, Taylor Swiftly was three wide through much of the :28.1 opening quarter to make the lead, relinquished it to eventual second place finisher Whispering Oaks (Yannick Gingras) until head stretch where Zeron found room to fan wide for the drive and she rolled on by for the 1:56.1 win. Nomo Volo (Kruger) closed to get third.
Taylor Swiftly is from the first crop of Trixton out of the Valley Victory mare True Diva, was bred by and is owned by Lindy Farms of Connecticut.
The greatest threat to Taylor Swiftly’s KYSS supremacy also resides in the Cecere barn in the improving Lindy Pearl. That filly became a double leg winner for Zeron when she shrugged off the constant hounding of a very game Strip It Down AS (Elliott Deaton) through fair fractions then trotted away impressively to a 4-1/4 length score through a :28.2 end to the 1:56 mile. Made the even money favourite off her 1:55.1 score in leg #2, Lindy Pearl has demonstrated a great fondness for the Bluegrass.
Strip It Down AS, in a particularly gritty effort, held for part of a place dead-heat with Hyperbole (Yannick Gingras).
The winner is by Muscle Hill from the mare Possessed By Lindy.
Lindys Crazy Hall kept the “Lindy” name in lights when he went gate to wire in 1:56.1 for Zeron in a colt division. The slight 2-1 favourite left sharply to an immediate lead, put Reign Of Honor in the pocket then rated friendly fractions, kicking home in :28.4 to hold off a serious late bids from both Shake N Bake (Deaton) and Memo (Kruger), second and third respectively by three parts of a length.
Lindys Crazy Hall is a product of more Lindy Farms home cookin’, by Cantab Hall out of the mare Lindys Gone Crazy.
The first of the two colt divisions opened the card and Forecast (Corey Callahan) parlayed a lovely second over trip into a career best 1:55.3 win for trainer John Butenschoen.
The favourite players fell prey to immediate disappointment when the 1-5 favourite Dont Letem broke well before the start and was out of the race before it began. Seizing the moment was driver Matt Kruger who put longshot High Into The Sky on the lead and set hasty fractions that left him unmolested through the 56.4 half until Signore Cardin (Zeron) rolled up uncovered by the 1:27.1 third panel with Forecast drafting just off his back. High Into The Sky battled valiantly, deflecting Signore Cardin’s bid but could not resist Forecast who closed into the 28.2 final quarter for his second win in the stakes series.
The winner, a son of Cantab Hall from Downpour, was purchased by Butenschoen on behalf of his long-time owners William Wiswell, Jean Goehlen and Eugene Schick from breeder Diamond Creek Farms at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale (LSYS) for $70,000.
Run Lindy Run, having flashed great speed but undone herself with breaks in several prior efforts, rewarded her faithful followers with a front end masterpiece at 7-1 for Corey Callahan (a stakes double for the driver) in 1:56. Trainer Ron Burke has been looking for answers with the talented Cantab Hall-Tough Girl Lindy lass and found the right one tonight as she led unchallenged all the way, holding off Asiago (Gingras) and the late trotting Mother Teresa (Zeron) for her first pari-mutuel score.
Run Lindy Run was a Harrisburg bargain at $25,000 for Burke, who owns the filly alone under the Burke Racing Stable, LLC banner. KR Breeding is the breeder.
The freshman KYSS pacers take to the track on Saturday night in the last of the preliminary legs for that group.
The top-10 point-earners in each of the eight divisions will return for the $2 million KYSS finals on Sunday (Sept. 16), with a special afternoon post time of 3 p.m. The eight $250,000 finals will be the centerpiece of the new Fayette County Fair, which will take place that day from noon to 6 p.m.
The fair will include food trucks, local craft breweries, bourbon tastings and an arts and crafts market. Also, several musical acts will play on two stages (one inside and one outside), with rising country star and Lexington native Walker Montgomery among the performers. The racing program will be kicked off with a horse parade of various breeds and the Harness Horse Youth Foundation will offer hands-on equine experiences.
(The Red Mile)