By Ray Cotolo, for The Red
Mile
LEXINGTON, KY— The
filly counterpart to the Tattersalls, the Glen Garnsey Memorial, attracted
two-divisions worth of sophomore filly pacers, competing for a total of
$220,000 at The Red Mile on Saturday, October 4.
Nat A Virgin rode
cover, and fanned to the center of the course in the stretch to fly by
Gettingreadytoroll in 1:50.3.
Scott Zeron sent
It Was Fascination for the lead, and she claimed it with ease. Uncontested
through opening splits in :26.4 and :55.1 (:28.2), It Was Fascination was ready
for pressure.
Favored
Gettingreadytoroll, hesitant to challenge the leader before the half, committed
to a first-over bid entering the far turn. She reached the wheel of It Was
Fascination, but struggled to surpass the filly. The two battled to
three-quarters, with Southwind Silence, Nat A Virgin, and Uffizi Hanover
swinging off cover in 1:23.1 (:28).
Gettingreadytoroll
eventually gained control from It Was Fascination, but could not compete with
Nat A Virgin’s sprint. Uffizi Hanover, with gigantic strides, attempted to pass
Nat A Virgin, but came a nose short in 1:50.3 (:27.2). Gettingreadytoroll held
third, while Southwind Silence finished fourth.
Paying $12.40 to
win in her victory over the 3/5-favorite Gettingreadytoroll, the daughter of
Always A Virgin-Nat- a- tat - tat-Blissful Hall pushed her career earnings to
$241,216. She’s owned by Dustin Jones Stables and William Jones, trained by R.
Dustin Jones, and driven by Jody Jamieson.
“Dusty loves this
filly [Nat A Virgin],” driver Jody Jamieson said. “She cut a quarter in :25
here [at Lexington] last year. I wasn’t sure how the race was going to go. Just
as the gate folded away, it looked like there were a bunch of leavers, so I
thought I’d try to rustle her back. She was real game, and wanted to go.”
Act Now traveled
wire-to-wire in the second division of the Glen Garnsey, winning in 1:50.1.
Uncontested on
the lead, Act Now set quarters of :28.1, :55.1 (:27), and 1:22.3 (:27.2).
Allstar Rating rode the pocket, with Ali Blue racing third. The only challenge
towards Act Now came from Allstar Rating at the eighth-pole, attempting to
slingshot to the front. Yet, Act Now was stern and progressed to the finish in
front, forcing Allstar Rating to settle for second, and Precocious Beauty
finished third.
Owned by Joe
Davino and Patrick O’Brien, trained by Nik Drennan, and driven by Brian Sears,
the Western Ideal-Cpa-Real Desire filly has earned $374,106 in her career. She
paid $4.00 to win.
“He [Brian Sears]
just took a shot,” trainer Nik Drennan said. “He said nobody was leaving, so he
went to the front. We’ve been racing her off the back, and she hasn’t been
getting it done, so we changed it up and it worked out.”
“Absolutely,” Nik
Drennan also said, in regards to his filly’s tendency to come to a halt in the
midst of a bid. “She really should have won her last six starts. She’s cleared,
she’s opened up, and then, down by the wire, she kind of just lets the horse
get her. It’s pretty frustrating.”
Live racing
resumes on Sunday, October 5 with the $89,000 Allerage Filly and Mare Trot,
$90,000 Allerage Filly and Mare Pace, $173,000 Allerage Open Trot, $160,500
Allerage Open Pace, $224,000 Kentucky Filly Futurity, and the $435,000 Kentucky
Futurity. Post time for closing day of
The Red Mile’s meeting is set for
1:00pmEDT.
Race replays of
action from The Red Mile can be found on our YouTube channel:
Red Mile Harness.
Keep track of all happenings on the Grand
Circuit with our Facebook page: The Grand Circuit.
