Lexington, KY – After a much-deserved respite from the extreme heat, Leading Lady extended her win streak to two with a neck triumph in the $80,000 third round leg of the Kentucky Championship Series for freshman trotting fillies in 1:54 on Wednesday (Aug. 20) at The Red Mile. The historic facility also hosted three $30,000 third round legs of the Kentucky Commonwealth Series, five $15,000 third round legs of the Golden Rod Series and three $10,000 third round legs of the Kentucky Wildcat Series, all for 2-year-old trotting fillies.
Leading Lady demonstrates determination in Kentucky Championship Series
Anything can transpire in a harness race, but especially with a field of 11 2-year-old filly trotters. Favorite Leading Lady (Yannick Gingras) was fortunate with an inside draw (post position two) and three of her rivals took themselves out of contention either behind the gate or in the first quarter mile.
Carve (Andrew McCarthy) left from post position six and led her foes through splits of :28.4, :58.2 and 1:27 with Leading Lady in fifth through the half. The favorite advanced to fourth at the three-quarter pole second over to challenge the leader with Jailbird Jog (Tim Tetrick) coming from eighth to engage with the top two as the fillies made their final charge to the line. After battling through the stretch, Leading Lady came out on top with a :26.3 final panel. Jailbird Jog was right behind her with a :26 drive to the line and Carve, after an admirable mile, a neck back of the second-place finisher in third.
Trained by Nancy Takter, Leading Lady improves to 4-3-0-0 with her only miscue being a sixth-place finish in the $225,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Final as the favorite. The daughter of Walner-Muscle Dolly has banked $92,500.
Bred by Marvin and Lynn Katz and Al Libfeld, Leading Lady is the second foal out of her dam and was purchased for $110,000 at last year’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale by Black Horse Racing, Marvin Katz and Herb Liverman. Leading Lady provided $3.92 to win to her supporters.
Commonwealth Series is formful
Heavy favorite Lindy In My Dreams (Dexter Dunn) annexed her second consecutive win in this company and over this surface with a new lifetime mark of 1:56. Pub Crawl (Tetrick) was second and Night French Girl (Todd McCarthy) was third under the wire.
Trained by Domenico Cecere, Lindy In My Dreams is a daughter of Ready For Moni-Lindy Of My Dreams and competes as a homebred for Lindy Farms. The filly sports a resume of 3-2-0-0 and a bankroll of $31,500. Lindy In My Dreams paid $2.94 at the windows.
Scott Zeron and Lainey W proved the wagering public was correct with a new speed badge of 1:53.4 with her second consecutive win in the second division. Zaheera (A. McCarthy) was in second and Alberta V (Gingras) was up for show.
Trained by Marcus Melander, Lainey W is a daughter of Bar Hopping-The Black Beauty with a record of 5-3-1-0 and has earned $52,500. Bred by Kentuckiana Farms and Perry Soderberg, the filly was a $125,000 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale purchase by Brittany Farms and Marvin and Lynn Katz.
Those wagering on this contest received $3.20.
In the third division, Cher Hill also achieved a new lifetime mark of 1:54.1 and returned to the win column with a triumph over Creator (Dunn) and Kngtstlkrs Games (David Miller). Trained by Gregg McNair, the daughter of Muscle Mass-Lauramarie Hill rebounded from a break in the last round of this series after winning an Ontario Gold Series leg earlier this month.
Cher Hill competes as a homebred for Tom Hill. The filly’s record is 6-2-0-2 and she has earned $56,634. Cher Hill paid $9.20 to win.
Eight divisions of the Golden Rod and Wildcat Series provide value
The Golden Rod winners were Goya (Tetrick, $7.68), Out The Window (A. McCarthy, $49.02), Indeed Bi (Andy Miller, $4.94), Iconic Beauty (T. McCarthy, $89.54) and Che Bella (Gingras, $4.66).
Burningforyourlove (Tetrick, $4.92), Julie Palema (A. Miller, $3.02) and Jula Priceless (Gingras, $11.20).
Gingras had three sire stakes wins on the day.
Racing will continue through Sunday (Oct. 5), following a Sunday through Wednesday schedule. Fans and horsemen can look forward to 5:05 p.m. post times on Sundays, and 1:00 p.m. post times on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays throughout the meet.
The Red Mile will once again feature industry low takeout on the pari-mutuel side of things while offering fans a full buffet of wagering options including bookend daily double wagering exacta and trifecta wagering, 20 cent superfectas, Pick-3, Pick-4, Pick-5 and Pick-6 offerings and the Super Hi-5.
For more information on the upcoming draw schedule, promotional events, the live racing calendar, or free racing program pages, please visit www.redmileracing.