Lazarus In Red Mile Spotlight Saturday

Published: October 4, 2018 12:28 pm EDT

This Saturday (Oct. 6) at the Red Mile, Down Under sensation Lazarus N will make his fifth North American start when he faces nine rivals in the $179,000 Mister Big Allerage Farms Pace, sponsored by Muscara Standardbreds.

A six-year-old horse by Bettors Delight, Lazarus N shipped to trainer Jimmy Takter towards the end of May. He paced his first mile on American soil in a qualifier at the Meadowlands Racetrack on July 28, which was clocked in 1:48.3 with a :25.3 final quarter. He has since won the $325,000 Dan Patch Invitational and $177,000 Hoosier Park Pacing Derby and finished second in the $462,000 Canadian Pacing Derby and a $26,180 Preferred Pace at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Taylor Made Stallions purchased Lazarus N in early May from trainer Mark Purdon with the intent of lowering Always B Miki’s 1:46 world record, established in the Allerage at the Red Mile in 2016, in the same race as his stablemate. The winner of 37 races from 49 starts and over $3 million in earnings will race from Post 5 with Yannick Gingras in the bike.

Will Take Charge – who is heading into Saturday off an eighth-place finish in the $150,000 Dayton Trotting Derby after having lost stride – will headline the field of seven racing in the $145,000 What The Hill Allerage Farms Trot, sponsored by Jeff and Paula Gural. A winner of nine races from 20 starts this season and 21 from 70 overall, the Jeff Gillis-trained five-year-old Kadabra gelding has earned $840,866 for owner Mac Nichol.

Tim Tetrick – who steered Will Take Charge to a second-place finish in the $286,650 John Cashman Jr. Memorial and a 1:51.2 four-length victory in the $186,000 Crawford Farms Trot – will sit in the bike from Post 3.

Wisdom Tree, who has been entered off of a 1:53.2 victory in the $225,000 New York Sire Stakes final, will front the opening division of the $225,000 Glen Garnsey Memorial, sponsored by Diamond Creek Farms, from Post 4 with Matt Kakaley in the bike for owner-trainer Jeff Cullipher and co-owner Thomas Pollack. Having won 11 of her 14 starts this year, including a lifetime-best 1:49.4 win in the $142,000 Nadia Lobell at Hoosier Park, the three-year-old filly by Betterthancheddar has earned $447,445.

The big three sophomore pacing fillies, Youaremycandygirl, Kissin In The Sand and Alexas Power, congregate in the other split of the Garnsey. In their last meeting, Youaremycandygirl, a millionaire filly by American Ideal trained by Ron Burke for owner William Donovan, won by a nose in the $96,600 Shady Daisy on Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands. Youaremycandygirl will make her first start since breaking stride in the $230,700 Jugette, won by Alexas Power, and will start from Post 4 with Yannick Gingras in tow.

Kissin In The Sand won the lone split of the Bluegrass filly pace as the 1-9 favorite under wraps in a 1:50 mile. The Nancy Johansson-trained filly by Somebeachsomewhere, owned by Marvin Katz and Hatfield Stables, was second to Youaremycandygirl in the Shady Daisy, but outfinished her when Shower Play stormed home to capture the $114,757 Simcoe Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park on September 8. Scott Zeron will get the drive from Post 6 behind the winner of 16 races from 27 starts and $904,795 in earnings.

Alexas Power, who finished third by a neck in the Shady Daisy, will start from Post 7 with Tim Tetrick driving for owners Jeff and Michael Snyder and trainer Jim Campbell. The Somebeachsomewhere filly, with nine wins from 16 starts this season and 12 from 29 overall, as amassed $520,545 in earnings and has been entered off of a 1:51.2 win as the favourite in the Jugette.

Freshman pacing colts will occupy most of the Saturday program, as five divisions of the $312,000 Captaintreacherous International Stallion Stakes (ISS), sponsored by the Captaintreacherous Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farms, will be on tap.

Brian Brown’s undefeated Captaintreacherous colt Workin Ona Mystery will be looking for his fifth consecutive victory when he starts from Post 8 in the opening division. Racing for James Stambaugh, Alan Keith, Milton Leeman and Wingfield Brothers LLC, Workin Ona Mystery has been entered off of a two-and-a-half length, 1:50.3 victory in his division of the Bluegrass, which pushed him towards $70,000 in earnings. Tim Tetrick sits at the reins.

Runner-up to Stag Party in the $890,000 Metro Pace, Semi Tough will start from Post 1 in the second ISS split. Owned by Burke Racing Stable, Frank Baldachino, Jerry and Theresa Silva Stable, Purnel & Libby and Weaver Bruscemi, the colt by Somebeachsomewhere has only one win to his credit from eight starts — a 1:51.1 win in a division of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes — and $264,464 in earnings. Matt Kakaley will drive.

The formerly-undefeated Captain Ahab, who was handed his first loss with a last-place finish in the Metro Pace, will return to the track in the third ISS division and will start from Post 6 with Andrew McCarthy in the bike. The Tony Alagna-trained Captaintreacherous colt had entered the Metro unbeaten after seven starts, which included wins in a $70,938 division of the Nassagaweya, a $53,982 division of the Champlain and his Metro Pace elimination, all good for over $100,000 in earnings. He races for owners Brittany Farms, Brad Grant, Vincent Barbera and Captain Ahab Racing.

Having lost while racing as the 1-9 favourite in his Bluegrass division, Proof will return to the Red Mile in the fourth ISS division. A winner of five races from eight starts, the Brian Brown-trained A Rocknroll Dance colt has accrued $278,495 in earnings mostly on the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes circuit — including from his 1:51 upset in the $253,000 championship. David Miller will be in the bike Saturday for owner Diamond Creek Racing.

Covered Bridge headlines the final ISS split after he shot off of cover in his Bluegrass division and paced home in :25.4 to post a lifetime-best 1:52 victory. Competing for owners David Smith and James Giannuzzi, the Jessica Okusko-trained American Ideal gelding has three wins overall from 11 starts and $116,259 in earnings. David Miller will sit in the sulky from Post 4.

Saturday’s Grand Circuit program, the penultimate of the fortnight meeting, will get underway with first-race post at 1:00 p.m. (EDT).

(Red Mile)

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