By Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile
LEXINGTON, KY— The Thursday, Oct. 8, program at
The Red Mile is headlined by five divisions of the $264,200 International
Stallion Stakes (ISS) for 2-year-old colt and gelding trotters.
The premier split features Milligan’s School,
who won the fastest division of the $289,000 Bluegrass on Oct. 1, timed in
1:56.3. Owned by Stroy Inc. and trained by Julie Miller, the son of Yankee
Glide, out of S J’s 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 two 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 Sept. 25. He’s sired by Explosive
Matter, and foaled 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 Sept. 11.
Division leader Southwind Frank races in the
third division, shipping from Canada after winning the $283,480 William
Wellwood on Sept. 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
favorite 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.
