by Jerry Connors

Harrisburg, PA — The time-honored Kentucky Futurity, with its heat format, highlights the racing at the end of a spectacular Grand Circuit meeting at The Red Mile, and is featured on the Cyber Circuit for Saturday, October 6.

There are two eliminations. In the first, I’d give a small edge to Flirtin Man. Campbell’s trotter was way off the pace in last week’s Bluegrass, then did very well to be third behind Donato Hanover and perfect-trip Rune. He can be in a good cover flow here and I think he can get up in enough time.

Green Day was an excellent second behind the FFA star Vivid Photo last time, showing determination late to fight off Ripped in the place photo, and he has good tactical speed from an inner draw. Mythical Lindy looked good last week, but might have too far to come from this spot.

In the second heat, it seems you don’t have to look any further than Donato Hanover — perfect this year, impressive last week, and a dominator against his classmates.

The undersides of gimmick tickets deserve a look. Val Taurus has lost only the one race when he made a break — but that was against this kind of foe. Does he have to race on the lead, and is it too much to expect him to hold that lead against the very best? “Princess Power” returned last week with Pampered Princess winning the filly stake, but it was her first race win in two months. Give points to the owners for being game and trying the boys again, but be wary of relatively low value on ticket undersides.

Longshots in this heat could include Arch Madness, coming off a monster mile at Rideau Carleton and now with Sears, and Up Front Ben, whose stretch ground loss in the PA Championship shouldn’t be counted too negatively, as he appeared to be firmly in command.

The second heat should be the final, and Donato Hanover should take another step towards being named Harness Horse of the Year. Handicapping a second heat is often reacting properly to the efforts of the first heat, so we won’t speculate any further than that.

Note: The Kentucky Futurity is part of the 2007 USTA Cyber Circuit, meaning that video will be posted online moments after the “official” sign goes up; to see video from previous Cyber Circuit races click here.