by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications
2011 Allerage finals from USTA on Vimeo.
Lexington, KY — Drop The Ball and driver Yannick Gingras made their move on the final turn and pulled away from the field on their way to a 1:49.1 victory in Saturday’s (Oct. 1) $153,000 Bluegrass Stakes for 3-year-old filly pacers at The Red Mile.
Strike An Attitude finished second and Idyllic was third.
USTA/Mark Hall photo
Drop The Ball was a 1:49.1 winner for Yannick Gingras.
Krispy Apple, who started from post No. 1, went off stride in the first turn while battling for the early lead. Idyllic, the winner of the Jugette last week, took over the top spot and led the field to the first quarter-mile in :26.4 and half in :53.3, with Honky Tonk Woman sitting in the pocket.
Approaching the final turn, Gingras moved Drop The Ball from third to challenge for the lead.
Drop The Ball paid $5.80 to win.
“We got lucky we avoided the trouble (on the first turn),” Gingras said. “This filly is so sharp right now I don’t think (the fractions) mattered. But obviously with those kinds of fractions I was kind of licking my chops in the three hole. I knew when I called on mine she would just take off.
“She won as easy as a horse can win in (1):49. It was really impressive, especially with it being around 45 degrees tonight. I think it’s a big, big mile.”
Drop The Ball has won three of 10 races this year and earned $281,025 for trainer Ross Croghan and owners Let It Ride Stables, Dana Parham and Robert Cooper Stables.
The winning time equaled the fastest mile of the season for a 3-year-old pacing filly; a mark already shared by Drop The Ball and Krispy Apple.
“Drop The Ball is scary fast,” Gingras said, adding about her previous issues with going off stride, “Ross has done a good job with her and has got her figured out now. It was mostly attitude; it wasn’t lameness or something like that. She has little quirks about her and Ross and I are both learning. There are a few things she doesn’t like and a few things she does like and it seems like it’s working out right now.”