Lexington, KY – The 2017
edition of the Kentucky Sires Stakes (KYSS) begins on Thursday, August 17 with six divisions
of freshmen trotters split evenly between fillies and colts, each for a purse
of $30,000 at The Red Mile.
The big news for the KYSS program this year is that the 2015 foals (2-year-olds
in 2017) will benefit from a mare residency policy for the first time. That
policy contains language that states the resulting foals of all horses bred
during the 2014 breeding season will be eligible for nomination to the KYSS if
the horse is out of a mare, even if sired by an out-of-state stallion, that
resided in Kentucky during the year of conception for 180 consecutive days and
nominated to the fund or by a stallion that stood in Kentucky and nominated to
the fund for that breeding season.
In
addition to the change in eligibility, funding for the program has seen
significant increases, largely due to the pari-mutuel tax on historical horse
racing, which is now offered at The Red Mile.
As a
result, 52 fashionably-bred freshmen, many from the finest Standardbred
nurseries in the Bluegrass, along with many of the sport’s top trainers and
drivers will compete in the first of three legs leading up to the $250,000
Finals on Sunday, September 17.
The
colts will cover the first three races and the new format certainly makes for
an interesting mix. Horses have been shipped to The Red Mile from the
Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Mid-West and Ontario for these races.
Trainer
Tony Alagna has brought a pair of colts in with Dawson Springs in what looks
like a good spot in the opener and Godspell Hall in the second. Both
are beautifully bred colts by sires that stand out of state but were
raised on Lexington area ground and fetched hefty prices as yearlings for their
breeders and consignors, buoyed in part by the dual eligibility.
Frank
Antonacci has a strong presence in the colt divisions, sending out three
very diverse contenders. They include Eurobound, a colt by French sire Love
You, American Moni, the first and only Muscle Hill from the great Moni Maker and
a half-brother to Hambletonian heat winner American Moni and the flashy Hat
Trick Habit a Donato Hanover half to the million dollar winner Habitat.
Jimmy
Takter has a pair of colts and three fillies to go, led by the Ohio-sired
Wolfgang from the first crop of 2012 Kentucky Futurity winner My MVP. Wolfgang
was gangbusters over the Meadowlands mile track and it’s not a stretch to
predict he may love the Lexington clay mile oval.
America’s
annual leading trainer Ron Burke is represented as well as Lexington native and
top trot man Bob Stewart, Pennsylvania-based stalwarts John Butenschoen and
Charlie Norris and even the latest sensation in fractional ownership, Anthony
MacDonald’s TheStable.CA is in the house.
Among
the drivers competing at The Red Mile on Thursday are the winningest
driver in the sport's history in Dave Palone who recently broke the 18,000
career win barrier, North America's leading dash winner in 2016 and thus far in
2017 Aaron Merriman, 2016 Hambletonian winner Scott Zeron, Ohio stars Ron
Wrenn, Jr and Josh Sutton and Meadowlands leading driver Corey Callahan.
Local
horsepersons like Jack Gray, Rodney Debeck, Tom T. Tetrick, Randy Jerrell and
Anette Lorentzon who have been loyal through the thin and the very thin are here
for what are becoming good times for Kentucky harness racing.
The
Kentucky Sires Stakes is funded by the Kentucky Standardbred Development
Fund (KSDF) and the Kentucky Standardbred Breeders' Incentive Fund (KSBIF).
“The support from the Standardbred
community has been phenomenal, we had over 500 mares nominate the first year
(2014), and here we are—3 splits in both divisions this Thursday—it’s an
exciting time for the industry, Kentucky & The Red Mile” said KHRC
Executive Director Marc A. Guilfoil
Post
time at The Red Mile on Thursday is 7:00 p.m. Greater detail on the races may
be accessed on the web.
