By Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile
LEXINGTON, KY— Undefeated in eight starts this
season, Jim Doherty Memorial-winner Broadway Donna tops the 16 freshmen filly
trotters divided into two divisions of the $259,000 Bluegrass Stakes, scheduled
for the eight-race card on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at The Red Mile.
Entering off a 2-length win in the $351,000
Pennsylvania Sires Stakes final, the Jim Campbell-trained Broadway Donna will
start from the rail in the opening division of the Bluegrass. She will line up
with seven other fillies, including Kindergarten Series-contender Southwind
Pearl, trained by Jonas Czernyson, who will be trying for her maiden victory.
Broadway Donna has earned $466,536 in her eight outings, which is more than the
rest of the field’s earnings combined. The filly by Donato Hanover out of
Hambletonian Oaks champion Broadway Schooner is owned and bred by Fashion Farms
and will be guided by regular driver David Miller.
Jimmy Takter sends a pair of fillies in the
first Bluegrass division, them being Twice Is Right and I’m Outstanding, both
of whom are shipping from Mohawk off of breaks in the Peaceful Way
eliminations. The daughters of Donato Hanover were also runner up to Peaceful
Way-champion Caprice Hill in a $66,850 division of the Champlain Stakes. The
duo will start from posts 5 and 8 respectively. Twice Is Right races for the
interests of Brittany Farms, while I’m Outstanding is owned by Christina
Takter, John and Jim Fielding, and Herb Liverman.
Celebrity Eventsy, from the first crop of
Manofmanymissions, leads the second division. The Staffan Lind trainee has
banked $102,462 this season and comes into this event off a second-place finish
to Caprice Hill in the $311,600 Peaceful Way. She has won two races in seven
attempts, including an elimination for the Peaceful Way. Brett Miller
will steer the Celebrity Farms filly.
Takter has another pair of fillies on the Grand
Circuit card, with the second-division entrants All The Time and Miss Tezsla. All
The Time, a homebred owned by Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld, approaches this race
off a break in the Peaceful Way Final. A winner of four in seven starts, the
daughter of Muscle Hill has earned $99,865 this season. Her stable mate Miss
Tezsla ships in from Delaware, Ohio, where she finished third in a $37,200
division of the Standardbred Stakes. Before that, she won the $40,000 Stallion
Series championship at Pocono Downs, a race restricted to Pennsylvania-sired
horses. The $45,000 Lexington Select yearling has won four out of eight starts
for owners Christina Takter, John and Jim Fielding, Brixton Medical Ab, and
Herb Liverman. She has earned $63,374 this season.
The opening card of the Grand Circuit meeting
kicks off at 7:00 p.m. A sextet of late-closing events will be contested on the
undercard of the two Bluegrass Stakes.
