By Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile
LEXINGTON, KY— Supplementing to the Kentucky
Futurity for $47,621, Hambletonian and Yonkers Trot-winner Marion Marauder will
attempt to be the ninth champion to claim the Trotting Triple Crown amid a
stakes-packed card to close out the Grand Circuit meeting at The Red Mile on
Sunday, October 9.
The draw for the 124th Kentucky Futurity was
conducted during The Red Mile’s Thursday afternoon program. A field of 12 is
slated to go in a single dash for $431,000, carded as race 12 on a 14-race
program. Marion Marauder, by Muscle Hill out of the Donerail mare Spellbound
Hanover, drew post 11.
“It’s not [a great draw], but it should be a
great race for the fans,” Scott Zeron, Marion Marauder’s driver, said. “I hope
I can drive a nice race and have a little luck. I think I have the horse that
can win it, I just have to make sure I drive him that way.”
“I would trade places with literally anyone
else,” Zeron said jokingly on the draw. “[Jimmy] Takter’s [has the] one, two,
and twelve, so not only am I boxed in at the beginning but I’m boxed in by the
Takter crew, too. It’s going to take some nifty-stick handling.”
A winner of 10 in 25 starts and $1,539,768 for
owners Marion Wellwood and Devin Keeling, Marion Marauder is the 5-2
morning-line favorite. Southwind Frank, who bested Marion Marauder through most
of last season and recently in the $500,000 Colonial Trot, is the 3-1 second
choice. Bar Hopping, beating Marion Marauder in the $522,120 Canadian Trotting
Classic and winning recently an $81,250 Bluegrass division, is 4-1, and Sutton
off a 1:52 win in an $82,250 Bluegrass division is 6-1.
The Kentucky Filly Futurity goes as two heats,
with two eliminations set for the first heat. Heat two will go for $218,400 and
is the final race on the program.
Broadway Donna goes for redemption after
breaking in a $62,400 Bluegrass split as the 1-5 favorite. Owned by Fashion
Farms LLC and trained by Jim Campbell, the Donato Hanover filly, out of the
Broadway Hall mare Broadway Schooner, Broadway Donna starts from post one. She
has won 12 of 18 starts, earning $800,894.
Ginny Weasley, the Andover Hall filly out of the
Donerail mare Donepunk who won a Bluegrass split in 1:53.1, neighbors Broadway
Donna from post two. Ake Svanstedt trains the winner of six races in 19 starts,
earning $128,563 for owner Torp Trotting Inc.
Celebrity Eventsy will try to rebound in the
second elimination. Finishing fifth as the 2-5 favorite in a $62,400 Bluegrass
division, trainer Staffan Lind sends the daughter of Manofmanymissions, from
the American Winner mare Little Ms Queenie, from post four for owner Celebrity
Farms. A winner of eight in 22 starts, she has earned $456,803 in her career.
She competes against Side Bet Hanover, by Donato
Hanover out of the Muscles Yankee mare Sea Level Hanover, starting from post
three. Jonas Czernyson trains for owner Srf Stable. Winning five of 18 starts
in her career, she has compiled $175,336 in earnings.
Pacing fillies will congregate for two divisions
of the $213,500 Glen Garnsey Memorial.
Off a second-place finish to Darlinonthebeach as
the 4-5 favorite in 1:50.2, Pure Country races in the first division. The Jimmy
Takter-trained daughter of Somebeachsomewhere, out of the Western Hanover mare
Western Montana, has won 17 of 27 starts and earned $1,596,948 for owner
Diamond Creek Racing. She races from post six.
Darlinonthebeach, by Somebeachsomewhere out of
the Bettor’s Delight mare Darlin’s Delight, races from post seven in the second
division for trainer Nancy Johansson. A winner of 11 in 27 starts, she has
earned $776,823 for owner White Birch Farm.
From post one, Blue Moon Stride enters the
second division off a 1:50.1 win in a $73,000 Bluegrass split. The filly by
Rocknroll Hanover, out of the Cam’s Card Shark mare Classic Star, has won 10 of
26 starts, earning $658,886 for owners Emilio & Maria Rosati. She has
finished third to Darlinonthebeach in both the $94,675 Shady Daisy and the
$350,000 Valley Forge.
Sophomore pacing colts and geldings were divided
into two divisions for the $416,000 Tattersalls Pace.
Division one draws Check Six, Western Fame, and
Lindy Beach, all of whom are entering off wins in the Bluegrass. Check Six, by
Somebeachsomewhere out of the Artsplace mare Southwind Vanna, won his $57,300
Bluegrass division in 1:50 as the even-money favorite. Winning 12 of 26 starts,
he has earned $903,804 for owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, William
Switala & Joe Martin. Trainer Ron Burke sends him from post six.
Western Fame, winning a $58,300 Bluegrass
division as the 2-5 favorite in 1:50.3, starts from post seven. Trained by
Jimmy Takter, the colt by Western Ideal, from the Artiscape mare Shyaway, has
won five of 22 starts, earning $316,156 for owner Brittany Farms.
Trying for his fifth-straight win this season,
Lindy Beach, off a 1:50.3 win in the Bluegrass, races from post nine. By
Somebeachsomewhere out of the Real Desire mare Real Appealing, he has won four
of 13 starts, earning $64,912 for owners Lindy Farms of Connecticut and Frank
Baldassare and trainer Frank Antonacci.
Racing Hill, after scratching from the $276,960
Little Brown Jug, headlines the second division from post seven. Trained by
Tony Alagna, the colt by Roll With Joe, from the American Ideal mare Chasing
Ideals, finished third in the first heat of the Little Brown Jug in a 1:50.1
mile. With wins in the $500,000 Messenger Pace and $400,000 Adios Pace, he has
10 victories to his credit in 22 starts, earning $1,358,876 for owner Tom Hill.
Tony Alagna also trains American Passport, by
American Ideal out of the Four Starzzz Shark mare Star Of The Show. He draws
post two after nearly going wire to wire in his Bluegrass split, instead
finishing second by three-quarters of a length to Check Six. A winner of five
in 25 starts, he has earned $298,016 for owners Brittany Farms, Riverview
Racing, Alagna Racing, and Jody Siamis.
The aged racing divisions will also compete in
their respective splits of the Allerage Farms stakes.
Older pacing fillies and mares will contest in
the $100,000 Allerage Farms Stakes. Division speedster Lady Shadow races from
post two off a 1:50 win in the $236,360 Milton Stakes. The mare by Shadow Play,
out of the Camluck mare Lady Camella, has won 25 of 51 starts, earning
$1,354,042 for owners David
Kryway, Carl Atley, Edwin Gold and the Bfj Stable.
The $101,000 Allerage Farms Open
Trot attracts Obrigado as he readies for the $1,000,000 International Trot at
Yonkers Raceway. Recently winning the $160,00 Dayton Trotting Derby in 1:53.2,
Obrigado will start from post three. Trained by Paul Kelley, the gelding by Boy
Band, from the Malabar Man mare Malimony, has won 40 of 76 starts, amassing
$1,362,019 in earnings for owners Paul Kelley Racing Stable, Srf Stable,
Linwood Higgins and Stable 45.
With the announcement that Always B
Miki will stand at Diamond Creek Farms in 2017, the all-time world record could
be at stake in the $138,000 Allerage Open Pace. By Always A Virgin out of the
Artsplace mare Artstopper, Always B Miki, a winner of 26 in 49 starts, has
dazzled across the country all season and has demonstrated a talented amount of
speed. With a mark of 1:47 at Pocono Downs taken in both the elimination and
final of the Ben Franklin and then equaled in the $225,000 Jim Ewart Memorial,
Always B Miki has earned $2,227,368 for owners Bluewood Stable, Roll The Dice
Stable, and Christina Takter. The five-year-old will start from post three.
Post time for the final day of the
Grand Circuit fortnight at The Red Mile is set for 1:00pm.
