By Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile
LEXINGTON,
KY—A seven-race card starts the second week of the Grand Circuit fortnight at
The Red Mile with three divisions of the $276,300 International Stallion Stakes
for two-year-old trotting colts highlighting the Thursday, Oct. 3 card.
Rome
Pays Off leads the opening division after finishing third in a $105,500
division of Bluegrass. The Marcus Melander-trained Muscle Hill colt closed from
last with a :27.1 final quarter to finish eight lengths behind the winner.
Brother Mattias Melander stays in the sulky as he pilots the winner of $177,494
for owner S R F Stable.
Amigo
Volo, who gave trainer Carter Pinske his first Grand Circuit victory, starts
from the outermost post in the field of seven composing the second Stallion
Stake split. Dexter Dunn piloted the Father Patrick gelding to a seven-length
victory in a division of the Bluegrass and stopped the clock in 1:52.3,
lowering the world record for a freshman trotting gelding. Dunn will again
drive the winner of $168,646 for owners Pinske Stables and David J. Miller.
Dunn
also drove E L Ideal, racing from post 3 in the second division, to a
maiden-breaking 1:52.2 victory in the Bluegrass last week. The Ake
Svanstedt-trained Muscle Hill colt, racing for Emp Invest Oy, will have Andy
Miller in the bike.
Real
Cool Sam fronts the final division as he tries to stay unbeaten in nine starts.
With victories including a 1:53.1 victory in the $324,550 Peter Haughton
Memorial and—more recently—a 1:53.4 win in the $252,000 Pennsylvania Sires
Stakes Championship, the Fashion Farms homebred has accrued $420,038 in
earnings. David Miller will maintain the reins as he steers the Jim Campbell
trainee from post 5.
Gangster
Hanover, romping by nine-and-a-quarter lengths in his Bluegrass split, will
start from post 7 in the final division. Trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt launched
the Father Patrick colt after the pacesetter circling the final turn and
sprinted to the finish in :26.2 to win in a lifetime-best 1:52.3 last week.
Svanstedt, who co-owns the colt, stays in the bike behind the winner of
$114,522 for co-owners S R F Stable and Brittany Farms.
Kentucky
Sires Stakes champion Ready For Moni will try to rebound as he faces Real Cool
Sam from post 3. The Per Engblom-trained colt by Ready Cash led most of the
mile in his $105,500 division of Bluegrass last week before jumping and veering
into the safety lane through the stretch. He has earned $161,500 from six
starts for owners John Fielding, Lindy Farms of Connecticut, Herb Liverman and
Bud Hatfield, and will have Jimmy Takter in the bike.
The
Thursday, Oct. 3 program also features three late-closing events for
two-year-old trotting fillies and a single late-closing race for two-year-old
pacing fillies. Racing gets underway with first-race post at 1:00 p.m. (EDT).
