The second leg of Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) for two-year-olds of both gaits is set for this coming weekend at the Red Mile. All divisions will race for $30,000. The trotters will be in action on Saturday and the pacers will take to the track on Sunday.
Post time for both nights will be at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, two 10-horse fields of colts will head postward in a pair of divisions. Peter Haughton Memorial winner Dont Letem, who broke stride in the first KYSS leg last week while racing out of a hole for Yannick Gingras, has drawn the outside Post 10 in the first split (Race 1). Trainer Jimmy Takter will be in the sulky behind the son of Muscle Hill.
Also in the division will be first-leg winner Forecast. The son of Cantab Hall will start from Post 6 for driver Mike Wilder and trainer John Butenschoen.
Takter was the driver behind Super Schissel for last week’s surprise 41-1 win while taking advantage of Dont Letem’s miscue. The son of Uncle Peter will start from Post 7 in the second colt division (Race 4). Also in that race is Greenshoe, the New Jersey Sire Stakes champ who will be making his first start since having gone offstride as the odds-on favourite in the Peter Haughton Memorial on August 4 at the Meadowlands Racetrack. Greenshoe will start from Post 9 with Wilder driving for trainer Marcus Melander.
Dexter Dunn, the New Zealand driving star who recently arrived to compete for at least several weeks in North America, will be at the Red Mile over the weekend, and on Saturday he will drive Amador in the first colt division and Reign Of Honor, who was second behind Super Schissel last weekend, in the second split.
Three divisions of fillies will again head postward, but only two first-leg winners will be returning. Taylor Swiftly, who overcame Post 9 to win her division, will start from Post 7 in the first division (Race 2) with driver Dave Palone, while French Cafe, who cruised to a five and a quarter-length win in her heat, will start from Post 5 for driver Andy Miller in the middle division (Race 3).
On Sunday, there will be two divisions for the fillies and three divisions for the colts, with the third split (Race 5) landing first-leg winners Blood Money and Captain Trevor, who line up side by side in Posts 2 and 3, respectively. Cant Beach That, who won the third division last weekend, has drawn into the second split (Race 3). His foes will include Hurrikane Emperor, the New Jersey Sire Stakes champ who came roaring from ninth in the last turn to miss by a neck of catching Cant Beach That.
Also in the race will be Bettors Wish, a winner last time out in an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold event who will be driven by New Zealander Dunn.
Just 13 pacing fillies were entered, so a pair of short divisions will be contested. First-leg champ Beautyonthebeach will start from Post 4 in the second division (Race 4) as the likely odds-on choice, with the role of favourite in the first division (Race 1) likely going to Edge Of Eternity, who was a strong runner-up in the opening KYSS round.
The three-year-olds will contest their second KYSS leg on Thursday, August 30, while the two-year-olds will be back in action for their final preliminaries on Thursday, September 6, and Saturday, September 8. The three-year-olds will wrap up their prelims on Sunday, September 9.
The top-10 point-earners in each of the eight divisions will return for the $2 million KYSS championships on Sunday, September 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 experience.
(KYSS)