By Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile
LEXINGTON,
KY—Real Cool Sam remains undefeated from nine starts but hit the finish line
inseparably with 32-1 Big Oil in the third of three divisions of the $276,300
Trixton International Stallion Stakes on Thursday, Oct. 3 at The Red Mile.
Big
Oil sat third to a :27.2 first quarter set by second-choice Gangster Hanover
with Capricornus sitting the pocket. Real Cool Sam, sent the 1-2 favorite,
raced fourth up the backstretch before driver David Miller slowly edged from
the pylons through a :55.3.
Real
Cool Sam ranged closer to Gangster Hanover circling the final turn but
Capricornus had room to pull from the pocket passing three-quarters in 1:24.
Capricornus took a narrow lead through the stretch while Big Oil circumvented
Gangster Hanover towards the inside and sprinted towards the front as Real Cool
Sam rallied three wide. Real Cool Sam ground past Capricornus in the final
strides to hit the finish in tandem with Big Oil, stopping the clock in 1:52.1.
A
gelding by Muscle Hill, Real Cool Sam lowered the world record for a
two-year-old trotting gelding of 1:52.3 set by Amigo Volo last week at The Red
Mile.
“When
[the photo] was taking so long, I was hopeful for a dead-heat but I didn’t
think we got it,” trainer Jim Campbell said after the race. “Today was his
ninth start and I didn’t want to come out of here with 10 starts and then—the
plan is, if everything’s okay, to go the Breeders Crown. I didn’t want him
getting used hard; [it’s] been over three weeks since he raced last at Chester.
When they hadn’t raced like that and you go abuse them too much too soon [then]
they don’t race the way you want them to. This way it worked out perfectly—Dave
gave him a good drive; the way you’d want the colt driven”
Real
Cool Sam, a homebred for Fashion Farms, has earned $443,063. He paid $2.20 to
win.
Big
Oil, a colt by Father Patrick, won his second race from eight starts, earning
$91,605 for owner-breeder Jason and Douglas Allen and co-owner Ron Allen. The
1:52.1 mile lowers the Julie Miller trainee’s lifetime mark.
“Last
week we kind of used as a confidence booster for him,” Julie Miller said after
the race. “I thought Andy raced him real well and we thought today to give him
a chance. I’m leaning towards [not sending him to the Breeders Crown]. We may
put him away and have a great three-year-old.”
Andy
Miller piloted the $16.60 winner.
King
Alphonso wired his competition with a 1:52 mile in the opening division of the
Trixton.
Trainer-driver
Ake Svanstedt swept King Alphonso past pylon-starter Beyond Kronos to take the
lead into the Tattersalls turn. Even-money favorite Rome Pays Off, rough-gaited
at the start, raced last of the seven through a :27.1 opening quarter before
angling first over into the backside.
Rome
Pays Off marched into a :55.2 half to race at King Alphonso’s wheel circling
the final turn but began to retreat past three-quarters in 1:24.1. King
Alphonso strolled through the stretch with wide strides pursued by
pocket-sitter Beyond Kronos in second. It’s Academic rolled down the center of
the course for third.
A
colt by Muscle Hill bred by Order By Stable, King Alphonso won his second race
from seven starts, earning $128,395 for owners Ake Svanstedt, Bender Sweden,
Little E LLC and Douglas Sipple. He paid $6.80 to win.
Taken
to the center of the course after trotting a bad step, Amigo Volo quickly
regained his footing and surged past his competition to equal his then-1:52.3
world record when winning the second division of the Trixton.
Driver
Dexter Dunn floated Amigo Volo from post 7 into fourth rounding the first turn
while EL Ideal led the field through the first quarter in :26.4. EL Ideal
decelerated up the backstretch as Amigo Volo nearly broke into a gallop but
kept his stride as Dunn veered the Father Patrick gelding to the center of the
track. Past a :55.3 half, Amigo Volo progressed uncovered towards the leader.
“It
wasn’t his gait—he was sort of running out a touch there,” Dunn said after the
race. “He was playing around with his head a little bit. It was more like he
lost a little bit of concentration there and threw himself off stride. [So I]
sort of moved him out of the way and he just hit his gait straight away.”
EL
Ideal clung to command as Amigo Volo matched strides passing three-quarters in
1:24. Amigo Volo then lunged to the lead straightening for the finish and
strode clear of EL Ideal with Synergy taking third.
“He
did it really nicely,” Dunn also said. “Those plugs are still in.”
Winning
his fourth race from eight starts, Amigo Volo has won $214,696 for owners
Pinske Stables and David J. Miller. Carter Pinske conditions the gelding bred
by Kentuckiana Farms LLC and Jorgen Jahre Jr. He paid $3.40 to win.
Each
division of the Trixton International Stallion Stakes was sponsored by Deo
Volente Farms, where 2014 Hambletonian Winner Trixton stands stud.
“This
is truly a special place. It’s an honor and a pleasure to be here,” said Mike
Gulotta, CEO of Deo Volente Farms in the winner’s circle after Race 3. “I love
the crowd; I love the racing. Together with the sale, it’s a perfect venue.
It’s a place to showcase some great, great horses.”
Grand
Circuit action resumes at The Red Mile Friday, Oct. 4 with four divisions of
the $290,200 Muscle Hill International Stallion Stakes for two-year-old
trotting fillies—sponsored by Southwind Farms—and two divisions of the $239,000
Arlene Siegel Memorial International Stallion Stakes for two-year-old pacing
fillies—sponsored by Jules Siegel and Fashion Farms. Racing gets underway with
first-race post at 1:00 p.m. (EDT).
