Lexington, KY – Some
high profile youngsters and one blast from the past were out for the qualifying
races at The Red Mile on a perfect Bluegrass morning. Temperatures were in the
low 70’s and a slight breeze faced the horses as they turned homeward.
The opener was for
freshman trotters and Dewayne Minor unveiled a nice Donato Hanover colt named
Found My Sloan with a front end 1:59.3 win over Prince William (Tony Alagna).
The winner is owned by Glat Kosher Racing who made a winning bid of $18,000 for
the colt at last fall’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale (LSYS).
Americam Nation went for
the second time today and was a 1:55.1 winner for trainer/driver Tony Alagna.
With virtually no competition, the unraced American Ideal 3-year-old from
Docdor Cameo set his own fractions and sprinted home into the breeze with a
27.4 final quarter handled confidently. Brittany Farms, Deo Volete Farms, In
The Gym Partners and Americam Art Stable may find he’s been worth the wait for
this fella.
The Yankee Glide
freshman trotting filly Glide Baby Glide took a nice mark of 1:58.3 this
morning, setting all the fractions for driver Tom T Tetrick trainer Rodney Debeck.
She was adding the trotting hopples today and that change apparently made all
the difference as she stayed flat and went 3 seconds faster than any previous
line. She was a LSYS $5,000 bargain for owners Kathy Montgomery and Terry
White, both of Mt. Sterling, KY.
Tony Alagna drove the
freshman Cantab Hall colt Gallant Man ($350,000 LSYS) to an impressive second
place finish from the pocket gaining on the winner late, falling just short of
being a winner at first asking.
The Alagna stable
finished 1-2 in the next race with a pair of sharp looking 3-year-old
trotters when Signal Hill won for Tony over Chardonnay Hill (Melander) in 1:55
flat. They followed along as Jackie Gray and Beer Dad sailed past the half in
55.4 when Tony moved Signal Hill around that one on the turn with Chardonnay
Hall in hot pursuit and they came to the wire together.
Making a trip in from
the past via the way back machine was 2015 Messenger Stakes winner Revenge
Shark who hasn’t been seen in competition on the racetrack since the Bluegrass
stakes that fall. Tony Alagna drove the now 5-year-old to a 1:53.3 mile, not
bad off a two year hiatus. Tony still owns Revenge Shark in partnership with
Brad Grant.
That’s it from The Red
Mile until tomorrow night when the KYSS freshman trotters return for leg #2 on
Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
