Lexington, KY – On Wednesday (Aug. 27) Endurance will place his hooves on the track for his sixth pari-mutuel engagement to compete for his fifth straight in the fourth $80,000 leg of the Kentucky Championship Series at The Red Mile for diagonally gaited freshman males.
The 13-race card also features two $30,000 fourth round divisions of the Kentucky Commonwealth Series, three $15,000 fourth legs of the Kentucky Golden Rod Series and two $10,000 fourth round contests of the Kentucky Wildcat Series for 2-year-old male trotters.
Endurance heavily favored in Championship Series
After finishing fourth in his career debut at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming and Hotel in June, Endurance has yet to taste defeat in the Bluegrass State. The son Captain Corey-Love Session, who will be guided by Andrew McCarthy for conditioner Chris Beaver, won the $100,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes Final for his age, gait and sex in his third career start prior to traveling to Lexington.
He has only improved over the central Kentucky oval with two strong victories in this series with his speed badge of 1:52.3 established in the first leg last month.
Endurance was assigned post position six in the field of seven and is 6-5 on the morning line.
The colt will face some familiar competition in Silverstein (David Miller) who has finished second behind him in all three of their meetings. The Mathew Burkholder charge is 7-2 on the morning line and will commence his mile from position four. The son of Chapter Seven-Shining Brightly’s lone win in six starts came when he didn’t have to face Endurance last month. He is, however, a consistent gelding with four seconds and $117,000 in the bank.
Endurance will also meet It Could Worse (Scott Zeron) for the second time. The son of Captain Corey-Emiliciousboomboom came home in front of Silverstein and Apex, who defeated William Wellwood Memorial victor Ardonne, in the New Jersey Sire Stakes Final last month.
The colt set his mark of 1:53 with a win last week, again minus Endurance, in this company, but the Linda Toscano-trainee is 4-2-2-0 with $73,380 in purse money. He is 2-1 on the morning line and is slotted in post position seven.
Bred by Steve Stewart and Marti S Ala-Seppala, Endurance leads the way in earnings and record for his first crop sire. The $17,000 Standardbred Horse Sale selection for Super Endurance Stables, Bill Maines, Leo Fleming and Mark Moger has quite the family lineage.
His dam is a daughter of Ens Tag Session who foaled world champions Triumphant Caviar and Centurion ATM, both by SJ’s Caviar, in addition to Prayer Session (Like A Prayer, $775,605) and Theatrical Session (Broadway Hall, $192,620).
Beaver is familiar with the family as he was responsible for Triumphant Caviar and trained his world champion son Winning Ticket, in addition to his two-time Ohio champion daughter Gabby’s C Note.
Commonwealth Series offers value
Royal Captain (Tyler Jones) is a son of Captain Corey-You Will Be Queen trained by Dustin Jones in the first division. The colt won his first two starts at Woodbine Mohawk Park last month yet has not fared well in the Championship Series with chasing Endurance and It Could Be Worse.
The class drop should work to his advantage as Royal Captain has trotted in 1:54.4, which is nearly three seconds faster than the other seven participants in this field.
Owned by Royal Captain Group, the colt was bred by his trainer and Hebert Horses Inc. He is the first foal out of his dam (Royalty For Life, $343,681) who also was trained by Jones.
Royal Captain was purchased for $105,000 at last year’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. He has a record of 5-2-0-0 and has earned $13,220.
The second division has installed Zephyr Kemp (Dexter Dunn, 2-1), Requiem (7-2 D. Miller), and Onassis (Yannick Gingras, 9-2) as the morning line favorites in the field of eight.
Zephyr Kemp will leave from post position four for trainer Marcus Melander and will seek his second consecutive win in this company. His record is 6-2-0-0 and the son of Calgary Games-Southwind Adele was bred by Kemppi Stables Oy Inc. and Suojalampi Stable Inc. Those entities also continue to own the colt in conjunction with PCW Racing and Sjoblom Racing Inc.
He has earned just over $50,000.
Onassis was sixth behind Zephyr Kemp last week but won the first two legs of this series. The son of Greenshoe-Lady Sherry is 9-2 on the morning line for trainer Nancy Takter. He and Gingras will begin trotting from post position five.
The colt has a record of 5-2-1-1 and has collected $34,000 in purse money. He was bred by Coyote Wynd Farms and is owned by Melco Devim Inc., Joe Sbrocco and JAF Racing.
Requiem is 7-2 on the morning line for trainer Mathew Burkholder and will start their mile from post position six.
The son of Muscle Hill-Ostrich Blue Chip has a record of 5-2-0-2 with each of his triumphs coming in this series. He enters off a lifetime effort of 1:54.2 in the last leg.
Bred by John Schmucker, Sunset Stables LLC., and Whiskeyontherocks Racing, Requiem went through the ring at the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale for $45,000 to Dark Horse Farm LLC.
The colt has amassed $42,000 in purse money.
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 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.