by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent
Lexington, KY — The Red Mile presented a 14-race card on Sunday (September 11), with eight of the contests worth a cool $2 million, producing the Bluegrass State’s newest Sire Stakes champions.
In the $250,000 2-year-old pacing colt and gelding final, prohibitive favorite Bolt The Duer paced home in 1:52.1 for Mike Lachance to become the third foal (along with Blue Claw and Shanghai Lil) from his late dam, Wonderbolt, to become a Kentucky Sire Stakes champion. The son of Ponder, who is owned by All Star Racing and conditioned by Peter Foley, boosted his record to 6-5-0-0 and increased his bankroll to $284,000.
Prayer Session, piloted by Ron Pierce, fended off the late charge of the previously undefeated Louie The Fourth to garner the 2-year-old colt and gelding trot final. The son of Like A Prayer-Ens Tag Session is trained by Jeff Smith and is owned by Dm Stables. The colt’s resume now stands at 5-3-1-1 and he lowered his lifetime mark from 2:01 to 1:55.4.
In the 2-year-old filly trot final, Northern Hall kept her unblemished record intact with a victory in 1:55.1 over Gisela As. The daughter of Like A Prayer-Duchess Hall is owned by Northern Lane Farm, trained by Johnson Hill, Jr. and was guided by The Red Mile’s leading driver, Dan Noble. Like Prayer Session, the filly lowered her lifetime mark from 1:57.2.
TB Beach Girl took advantage of a break made by the morning line favorite Cindy’s Flower shortly after the field left the gate in the 2-year-old filly pace final. The daughter of Jenna’s Beach Boy-Sign Of Life is owned by Rocco Ruffolo and trained by Ron Gurfein. With this triumph, the filly also established a new lifetime mark of 1:56.1 and accomplished the task while being hampered by the 10 hole. This was also one of Mike Lachance’s three winning drives in Sire Stakes events for the evening.
Trained by John Butenschoen and owned by William Wiswell and Jean Goehein, The Evictor rewarded the bettors’ faith in his ability as he had his picture taken in the 3-year-old colt and gelding trot final. From 22 lifetime starts, the gelding’s record now stands at 6-4-1 and the son of Valley Victor-Expressive Chip has now earned more than $250,000 during his career. The Evictor was steered to victory by Mike Lachance and trotted home in 1:54.2, which was just shy of his career mark of 1:54.1.
In the 3-year-old colt and gelding pace final, I’m Feelin Good kicked away from the field in the stretch to win handily in 1:50.1. Piloted by Brian Sears and trained by Ron Burke, North America’s leading trainer in wins and purse money won, the son of Mr Feelgood-I’m-The-Goto-Girl defeated his rivals by nearly 10 lengths improved and his career record to 17-5-4-3.
Joe Hudon, Jr. drove Feels Good, a filly he also owns and trains, to a 1:53.2 triumph in the 3-year-old filly pace. The daughter of Mr Feelgood-Maryanne Supreme outlasted Hello Camie through the stretch to gain her second win of the season from five starts. The filly has only faced the starter on 11 occasions in her career with three wins, three second place finishes and a third.
In the 3-year-old filly trot final, last year’s champion Screaming Awsome was denied the opportunity to repeat when Adagio poured it on coming home to score an authoritative victory in 1:57 over Louanda Dream and last year’s victress in the 2-year-old filly trot. Conditioned by Stacey Ruddick and owned by Dm Stables, the daughter of Valley Victor-Village Ballet continued her top form of this season. In her last five starts, the filly who was driven by Dan Noble, has only been defeated by Screaming Awsome and when she stopped the clock in 1:57, she also lowered her lifetime mark. From 21 career starts, Adagio now has six victories, all of them from her last seven races, and one third place finish. It was also the fourth win on the card for Noble.