from the Kentucky Sire Stakes

Lexington KY — Saturday night (Sept. 8) at Red Mile brought with it the third leg of the Kentucky Sires Stakes (KYSS) for 2 year old pacers as they make their last stand toward point accumulation for the $2 million finals on Sept. 16. The KYSS covered the first five races on the card on a night that saw the track listed as good after afternoon showers.

The pacing colts kicked the card off and the result was an upset when Major Deception (Brett Miller) scored in 1:51.3 at odds of 15-1. Miller put the Captaintreacherous colt out of Loving Caroline into play early, released Bettor’s Wish (Dexter Dunn) as they neared the :56 half, then slid out for the drive through the :26.3 final quarter to win over the closing 45-1 Pyro (Andy McCarthy) and Bettor’s Wish in a photo. Race favorite Hurrikane Emperor was carried very, very wide off the last turn then rallied for fourth.

Tony Alagna trains the winner for In The Gym & Martha Frank Stables, Rob LeBlanc, Steve Head and Joe Sbrocco. He was a $130,000 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale purchase from Diamond Creek Farms.

Captain Trevor continued the Captaintreacherous parade to the winner’s circle and completed a sweep of the three KYSS preliminary legs with a front end 1:52.3 win for Andy McCarthy. Sent out from post seven, he cleared stablemate US Captain just past the :27.4 quarter, rated a :57 half as Can’t Beach That (Dunn) ranged up gradually through a 28 third panel then moved away from that rival with a :27.3 closing quarter for the win. American Mercury (B. Miller) closed well to get up for third.

Captain Trevor was a $75,000 Standardbred Horse Sale acquisition for owners Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz, Brad Grant and Captain Trevor Racing. Bay’s Stable and Riverview Breeding sold the colt as a yearling at that auction.

Blood Money (McCarthy) won the third colt division from off the pace in 1:52.3. Race favorite Magic Joe Lindy (Dube) was forced to pay a heavy price to get the early lead from Egomania, stretched out through a sub-:27 second quarter to clear in :55.1 then faced a hard rush from Caviart Rockland as Blood Money enjoyed a perfect second-over trip. Once in the stretch, McCarthy fanned his mount wide to take over then held the late-charging Waterway (B. Miller )off for the win. Yacht Week (Christian Lind) rallied up for third at 99-1.

Diamond Creek Racing owns the homebred son of Sweet Lou out of Blood Diamond, who was winning for the second time in the series.

Beautyonthebeach completed a Daily Double sweep for driver Brett Miller and a personal sweep of the series legs with an effortless 1:52.1 front-end domination of the second race field of fillies. Bet down to 1-5, Beautyonthebeach bounded along on an easy lead, shook off token pressure from Edge Of Eternity (Cameron McCown) then sprinted off in a :27.1 end to the mile. Louphoria (Dexter Dunn) was a good second and Hurrikanekrazylady (Dan Dube) won a tight photo for third.

Jim Avritt Jr. bred and owns Beautyonthebeach while Gregg McNair trains the Somebeachsomewhere filly from Precocious Beauty.

Dexter Dunn put a winning steer on Summer Charm for trainer Ron Burke and owner Tom Dillon to capture the second filly stake. After leading the field around the first turn, Dunn released race favorite Blue Ivy (Dube) for a few steps then retook just past the :28.3 opening split. From there, he kindly rated the Bettor’s Delight filly, who is out of Lover Of Art, called on her as they spun around the second turn to an open a lead that carried them to the wire in 1:53.4. Blue Ivy cut into that margin but fell short to settle for place while Margret Hill (McCown) closed it up a bit late for the show.

Brittany Farms bred the $60,000 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale buy.

The KYSS championship card on Sept. 16 has a first-race post time of 3 p.m. The Fayette County Fair will run from noon until 6 p.m. Admission is free and the fair will include food trucks, local craft breweries, bourbon tastings and an arts and crafts market.

Several music acts will play on two stages (one inside and one outside), with rising country star and Lexington native Walker Montgomery, Avery Crabtree and Conch Republic among the performers. Montgomery is slated to perform on the outdoor stage from 4-6 p.m. The racing program will kick off with a horse parade of various breeds and the Harness Horse Youth Foundation will offer hands-on equine experiences.

Live racing resumes tomorrow night with the 3 year old trotters and pacers going forth in the last leg of the KYSS