Lexington, KY — On Tuesday (Aug. 27) at the Red Mile, Asweetbeachhere set a new lifetime mark of 1:49.2, fending off Direction by a neck to claim victory by tossing down a :25.4 final panel in the third $80,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series (KYSS) leg for 3-year-pacing fillies, while Marvin Luna continued to sizzle by reining six horses home over the red clay.
Direction (Todd McCarthy) picked up right where she left off after her triumph in the second leg of this series — in front — as the field of seven commenced their mile. The filly clicked off fractions of :26.4, :55.1 and 1:23.1. Meanwhile, the winner, with Dexter Dunn at the controls, was sitting in fifth but advanced to third by the top of the lane. As the fillies made their final drive to the wire, Asweetbeachhere had improved to third and Direction was overtaken by a nose by the pocket-sitting favorite Geocentric (Tim Tetrick). These three ladies put on quite a show advancing to the finish line, however, it was the other gear Asweetbeachhere possessed that enabled her to outlast her rivals. Dan Patch Award winner and Kentucky champion Geocentric rounded out the trifecta.
Asweetbeachhere, a daughter of Sweet Lou-Some Fancy Filly owned by trainer Andrew Harris in partnership with Bill Pollack and Bruce Areman, notched her second win from nine starts this season. The filly’s career resume now stands at 20-6-4-4 and her bankroll swelled to $305,532. She paid $9.36.
Luna makes a statement
New Jersey native Marvin Luna is experiencing a breakout season in 2024. The soon-to-be 23-year-old entered this year’s meet at the Red Mile after finishing second in the driver standings to Atlee Bender at Oak Grove. He is also currently sitting in fourth place in the driver standings at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Luna has nearly doubled his starts from last season with 1,160 and has more than doubled his earnings ($2.42 million).
Luna, who was introduced to harness racing through his father, Angel, didn’t jump right in the deep end of the pool when he began driving in 2020. In fact, he only steered 20 horses and three of those finished third, but Luna was more intent on acquiring an education and to demonstrate he was here to stay.
While still in high school, Luna was gainfully employed by Trent Stohler and then became a pupil of Tony Alagna.
Now he can add capturing six races on a single card to his blossoming list of achievements.
Luna began his hot streak in race eight with Stohler trainee Betustay ($7.58), and the duo teamed up for victories in race 10 with Odds On Liquidity ($4.16), race 11 with Gloryview Image ($2.90), race 13 with Under The Desk ($4.24), and the nightcap with Hungry Girl ($7.02). Luna also annexed race nine with Morningstarbeach ($18.28) for Greg Henderson.
Heavy favorites Strong Poison, Admiral Hill capture 4-year-old KYSS splits
Strong Poison (Yannick Gingras), who gave the sport’s top-ranked horse, Twin B Joe Fresh, all she could handle on this circuit for the last two seasons, collected her third win in her last four starts in the second $35,000 KYSS leg for 4-year-old pacing mares in 1:50.4.
The heavy favorite led at every call through fractions of :27.1, :56.4 and 1:24.3 while never facing significant resistance. Prosecco Princess (Todd McCarthy) was second and long shot Keep My Secret (Tony Hall) was third.
Strong Poison, a daughter of Always B Miki-Fiyonce, was bred by Steve Stewart, Charles Nash and Julie Nash. She was purchased privately by Let It Ride Stables and Odds On Racing last fall and was previously trained by Ron Burke. She paid $2.64.
Admiral Hill provided Gingras with a sweep of the KYSS events for 4-year-olds. He was a heavy favorite like Strong Poison, but he had some anxious moments prior to hitting the line in front by a nose in 1:49.1 in the second $35,000 leg for male pacers.
Blue Lou (David Miller) led the field through a first fraction of :27 but was content to sit in the garden spot as Admiral Hill swept to the front before the half-mile pole. The son of Sweet Lou-Laura Hill went a half in :55 and three-quarters in 1:23. Speaking Volumes (Hall) did just that as he closed stoutly from fourth with a :25.2 final quarter to just miss. Blue Lou held for third.
Trained by Per Engblom, Admiral Hill was bred by Thomas Hill and is owned by Morrison Stables. He has now earned $535,258 in purse money and improved his record to 38-17-6-5. He is 12-8-1-1 this year and enjoying his best season to date with $251,450 in the bank. He paid $2.66.
Racing at the Red Mile continues on Sunday (Sept. 1), Monday (Sept. 2) and Tuesday (Sept. 3). Sunday’s first post is 5:05 p.m., with Monday and Tuesday beginning at 1 p.m.