The Thursday, October 8 program at the Red Mile is headlined by five divisions of the $264,200 International Stallion Stakes (ISS) for two-year-old colt and gelding trotters.
The premier split features Milligans School, who won the fastest division of the $289,000 Bluegrass on October 1, timed in 1:56.3. Owned by Stroy Inc. and trained by Julie Miller, the son of Yankee Glide, out of the SJs Photo mare Tori Ann, has earned $132,494 in 10 starts this season, with four of them being wins. Jimmy Takter’s Honor Above All, Ron Burke’s Make Or Miss, and Ake Svanstedt’s Metatron all also return to Lexington after competing in the Bluegrass.
Split 2 is highlighted by the Jimmy Takter-trained Love Matters, whose record was tainted by a break in the $351,000 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes final. The winner of six races in seven starts qualified in 1:56.2 at the Red Mile on September 25. He’s by Explosive Matter, and is out of the Andover Hall mare Lotsa Love. He’s owned by Christina Takter, Brixton Medical Ab, John Fielding, and Herb Liverman. He’s competing against Bluegrass starters Labatt Hanover, Hollywood Highway, Coughlin, Desert Runner, and Sliding Home, who finished second in the Pennsylvania Sires Stakes final on September 11.
Division leader Southwind Frank races in the third division, shipping from Canada after winning the $283,480 William Wellwood on September 19. Trained by Ron Burke, the Muscle Hill colt, out of the Cantab Hall mare Flawless Lindy, has won six of his seven starts this season, banking $450,319. He races for the interests of Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Our Horse Cents Stables, and Jerry and Theresa Silva Stables. He’ll face Bluegrass-division winners Lagerfeld, trained by Jimmy Takter, and Taco Tuesday, trained by Frank Antonacci.
Jonas Czernyson-trainee Brooklyn Hill competes in the fourth split. Owned by SRF Stable, the winner of one in nine starts and an earner of $162,100 last raced in the William Wellwood Memorial, where he was fourth to Southwind Frank. The colt by Muscle Hill, out of the Conway Hall mare Brooklyn, has five place finishes on his record, including in a William Wellwood elimination, $88,055 Champlain division, $34,244 Reynolds division, and the $349,850 Peter Haughton Memorial. Bluegrass starters Dominion Beach, Brownie Hanover, Celebrity Pilatus, Cloud Nine Hanover, and Southwind Flash also draw into this division.
The final ISS division matches up Dupree and Bar Hopping, who finished one-two in a Bluegrass division last week. Sent off the favourite in that race, Bar Hopping, a Muscle Hill colt out of Credit Winner mare Cocktail Hour owned by Christina Takter, Hatfield Stables, Marvin Katz, and Al Libfeld, stalled in his first-over move after Dupree, resulting in his second-place finish. A winner in one of six starts, he has banked $87,238 to date. Owned by Knutsson Trotting and Courant A B, Dupree, sired by Andover Hall out of the Muscles Yankee mare Hustle N Muscle, has won two of seven starts, and earned $114,031. Petrossian As and Sutton, who also started in the Bluegrass stakes, also start in this split.
The 10-race card has a first-race post time of 1:00pm.
(Red Mile)