by Paul Ramlow, USTA Internet News Manager
Lexington, KY — The final card of the 2011 Grand Circuit meet at The Red Mile featured two divisions in the $213,000 Bluegrass Stakes for 3-year-old filly trotters.
The $107,000 second division saw Kentucky Filly Futurity winner Cedar Dove make a break behind the gate and immediately fall out of contention. That opened the door for Hambletonian Oaks champion Bold And Fresh, the runner-up in the Futurity, to post a come from behind victory in 1:53.1, which equaled her lifetime mark and her own national season’s record for a sophomore trotting filly on a mile track.
David Miller was in the bike for trainer Doug Miller as the SJ’s Caviar-Odre Coucou miss won for the sixth time in 15 season’s starts. She has now earned $606,330 this year for owner Donald Bartling.
Lady Andover and John Campbell cut the fractions from post seven, heading to the quarter in :28, the half in :55.2, and the three-quarters in 1:24.1.
Bold And Fresh ($5.60) sat in the back of the pack for the opening half, improved to fourth at the three-quarter pole, following the live cover of Miss Sue V, and then came flying three wide down the lane to take over the lead and eventually post the win. Don’t Think Twice (Brian Sears) also rallied to finish second while Lady Andover had to settle for the show dough.
“I really wasn’t too concerned (about racing from off the pace); she always has that late kick,” said Bartling, “and she did that twice in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, so I’ve come to be a believer after seeing that. You’re always concerned, but then you have to remember how she races.
“It’s been a long way back. She had 23 days off after the Oaks and she just didn’t take well to that. She broke in the Zweig and then she hit herself in the Pennsylvania Sire stakes final, so this is a long way back.”
In the $106,000 opener, Maximum Force Inc.’s Seducedbychocolate went wire-to-wire from post six in posting a lifetime best 1:54.3 mile. David Miller was in the bike for trainer Jonas Czernyson as the daughter of Chocolatier-Seducer Hall posted her first win in nine season’s starts. Seducedbychocolate improved her 2011 bankroll to $72,218 with the winner’s share of the purse.
Despite starting from the outside post in this compact field of six, Miller had no problem putting Seducedbychocolate on the engine and she cut fractions of :29.1, :57.4 and 1:26.4.
Heavily favored Hey Mister (Brian Sears) sat in the pocket for most of the mile, but could not catch the leader in the stretch and had to settle for second while Love N Hate (Tim Tetrick) was third.
Seducedbychocolate paid $16.80 to win in just her second start after finishing eighth in the Hambletonian Oaks on August 6.
“We got her down here right after the Hambo and turned her out for a couple of weeks,” said Czernyson. “We just kind of let her get back to herself again.
“We just wanted to give her a break beacuse she didn’t come out of the Hambo Oaks very good. She took it pretty rough and got a little tired of it, so we had to turn her out and freshen her up and hope for a good end of the year.
“We qualified her and got a nice tightener into her. I knew she was going to be sharp (today). I didn’t know she was going to do it from the front end, but she did it.”