Lexington, KY — This week’s upcoming Kentucky Championship Series action at The Red Mile attracts several high-profile horses exiting the grandest stage in harness racing as they try to find the winner’s circle from defeats in the Grade 1 Hambletonian and Grade 1 Hambletonian Oaks at The Meadowlands.
Carve (driven by Andy McCarthy, post 1, 5-2 morning line) hopped onto the trailer following a narrow runner-up finish in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks to Nezuko Kamado S and returns to her freshman stomping grounds as the morning-line favorite in an overflow 12-horse contest for the $80,000 second preliminary for 3-year-old trotting fillies on Tuesday (Aug. 18). The Noel Daley-trained daughter of Captain Corey-Alpine spent a bulk of her rookie season racing at The Red Mile and even collected a win and a second during the 2025 Grand Circuit season. She’ll meet another Oaks finalist in Madam Cheval (Tim Tetrick, post 10, 8-1) along with opening-preliminary winner Heart For Two (Marvin Luna, post 5, 9-2) inside of the competitive contest.
A pair of Hambletonian finalists come west for the single $80,000 second-preliminary dash for 3-year-old trotting males on Wednesday (Aug. 19) in It Could Be Worse (Tim Tetrick, post 4, 9-5) and Captain Naughty (Yannick Gingras, post 2, 8-1). It Could Be Worse lost all chance at the start of America’s Trotting Classic when breaking stride off the car following a solid runner-up rally in his elimination while Captain Naughty caught a piece of the $1-million purse with a fifth-place finish behind Apex and Big Ranger’s tango to the line. The quintet also includes Silverstein (David Miller, post 5, 5-2), who finished second to his stablemate Requiem in the opening round of the Kentucky Championship Series.
Sunday night (Aug. 16) kicks off the race week with a 15-race card headlined by the $80,000 second preliminary of the Kentucky Championship Series for 2-year-old pacing fillies. Carter Pinske pupil Banana Beach (Andy McCarthy, post 4, 5-2) eyes back-to-back wins following a confident front-stepping steer to a 1:51.1 win in the opening round by a neck over fast-closing My Taylors Swift (Ronnie Wrenn Jr., post 2, 7-2). This division also sees a pair elevate from the Kentucky Commonwealth Series in Goodwalkspoiled (Kyle Husted, post 6, 6-1), who blazed the track for a 1:50 win back on Aug. 4, and Sister Girl Blues (Marvin Luna, post 1, 10-1), who finished third – beaten a length – to Goodwalkspoiled in that same race.
Monday (Aug. 17) features a short field for the $80,000 second preliminary of the Kentucky Championship Series for 2-year-old trotting fillies that nonetheless promises to pack a punch with opening-preliminary winner Kissme Ifyoucan (Austin Hanners, post 1, 5-2) facing the undefeated Wall Of Fame (Andy Miller, post 5, 7-2) in the five-horse field. Kissme Ifyoucan, whose single blemish is a runner-up finish in the $150,000 Next Generation at Scioto Downs earlier this year, popped off a pocket trip to down tempo-setter Heart Of Secret (Yannick Gingras, post 4, 9-2) in a 1:51.4 mile while Wall Of Fame has cruised in all four of her starts, most recently powering off a second-over trip to a 1:52.3 victory on Hambletonian Day in the $225,000 New Jersey Sires Stakes Platinum Series final.
The sophomore pacing glamour boys will co-headline with the 3-year-old trotting fillies on Tuesday with their $80,000 second preliminary of the Kentucky Championship Series. Funky Buddha (Tim Tetrick, post 4, 5-2) will again try to stave off Oak Grove Kentucky Sire Stakes series champ Sea Bistro Hanover (Todd McCarthy, post 2, 9-2) after the pair sprinted lockstep to the finish of a 1:47.2 mile in the first round with Tony Dinges’s son of Sweet Lou holding the upper nose.
Kentucky Championship Series action for the week wraps on Wednesday with the sophomore pacing fillies sparring in their $80,000 second-preliminary dash a few races after the sophomore trotting males. Hope Hill (Dexter Dunn, post 1, 5-2) will look to rebound from a fourth-place effort behind Miss Jum Jabber in a 1:48.2 mile in the opening leg with that race’s runner-up Bahama Momma (Joe Bongiorno, post 5, 7-2) and third-place finisher She’s A Bulldog (Yannick Gingras, post 6, 9-2) also in competition inside the sextet.
Each day of racing at The Red Mile also includes $30,000 divisions of the Kentucky Commonwealth Series, $15,000 divisions of the Kentucky Golden Rod Series and $10,000 divisions of the Kentucky Wildcat Series. First-race post time on Sunday is at 5:05 p.m. (EDT) and at 1 p.m. on Monday through Wednesday.
For more information on the 2026 live harness racing season, visit The Red Mile’s website (https://www.redmileracing.com).