The Red Mile Grand
Circuit concludes week one with a thirteen race matinee card on Sunday. The
program features five divisions of the Bluegrass Stakes for sophomore trotters,
three colt divisions and a pair for the fair sex.
A pair of eliminations
for the Allerage Farms Open stakes, containing the stars of the mature
set, highlight the program. When Racing Secretary Billy Perkins opened the box
at 10am this morning, he found an overflow of declarations in both events,
necessitating several byes being offered to get both fields down to ten
starters.
On the pacing side, top
seasonal earner and division leader Pet Rock was the first to have the option
to accept a free pass into next Sunday's $175,000 final on the strength of his
2013 bankroll of $644,070. His connections, trainer Virgil Morgan, Jr. and
owner Frank Bellino, accepted the offer and he will join the top nine finishers
from this Sunday's elimination in the final.
Left to battle for the
remaining berths are the titans of the division including no less than five
from the Ron Burke stable headed up by the razor sharp Clear Vision. A
Rocknroll Dance, Bolt The Duer, Sweet Lou and Golden Receiver (returning
from a month long freshening) are chief among the contenders.
Thirteen were declared
for the Allerage Open Trot and the bye process took more effort to
implement, as several trainers chose to bypass the free roll and race in the
elimination. The pot is sweetened by the chance to win the right to
select their post position for next week's final with a victory in this race.
At the end of the
process, Guccio, Southwind Pepino and Wishing Stone will go directly to
the $170,000 final next Sunday.
That left an awfully
good field of horses to race for the remaining seven slots.
Leading seasonal earner
Sevruga leaves from post four with Andy Miller set to drive for owner KDM
Stables Corporation. Market Share is also racing and will start just outside
Sevruga as he makes his bid for the win. Tim Tetrick has driven him in each of
his eight seasonal starts and will again call the shots for trainer Linda
Toscano and owners Richard Gutnick, TLP Stable and Bill Augustine.
The fun starts at 1:00pm
and the weather forecast remains positive with a warm early fall afternoon predicted.
Be reminded that The Red Mile clubhouse will be open each racing day and you
may reserve a table by calling (859) 233-0814. Parking is free and
admission is a mere $2 for a great day of harness racing.
The Lexington Selected
Yearling Sale begins on Tuesday, October 1st at the Fasig-Tipton sales
pavilion. Find further sale info at their website.
