Lexington, KY – The sensational season for Team Burke’s homegrown stock looks to continue alongside the tremendous campaign of their homebred Sweet Lou colt Louprint, a winner of all nine of his races this season, including the Grade 1 North America Cup and Grade 1 Little Brown Jug, in the second of two divisions for the $440,000 Grade 2 Tattersalls Pace – sponsored by Cameo Hills Farm – on the Kentucky Futurity undercard Sunday (Oct. 5) at The Red Mile.
Louprint enters the Tattersalls Pace putting on the line a 10-race win streak, which began when he sprung a mild upset to win the Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Pace last fall at The Meadowlands. The colt has since frequented the winner’s circle and amassed $1.6 million in earnings despite a mid-season emergency surgery forcing him to the sidelines. Ronnie Wrenn Jr. pilots Louprint – listed as the 4-5 morning-line favorite – from post four against the likes of stablemate Swingtown, entering from a runner-up finish in the Ohio Sire Stakes Championship, and Bluegrass divisional winner and Cane Pace champ Captain Optimistic. Yannick Gingras drives Swingtown from post two while Scott Zeron sticks with Captain Optimistic, for trainer Nancy Takter, from post five.
Prince Hal Hanover exacted vengeance on Madden Oaks in a Bluegrass division last week and will look to add to the score in the first division of the Tattersalls Pace. The Dr. Ian Moore-trained Captaintreacherous-Percy Bluechip colt repelled Madden Oaks’ far-turn push and scampered clear for a 1:47.2 win at odds of 1-2 last week but has to move from the pylon post to post eight for this week’s affair as the 6-5 morning-line chalk with Todd McCarthy in the bike. Braxten Boyd returns to town to steer Madden Oaks from post four for trainer Cam Capone, aiming to improve from his level third-place defeat.
An overflow field of 12 sophomore pacing fillies compete in the $241,000 Grade 3 Glen Garnsey Memorial, sponsored by Diamond Creek Farm. Trainer Ron Burke again leads the charge with a trio of participants including the tandem of 2-1 morning-line favorite Rodeo Drive Deo and 3-1 second-choice Looksgoodinloulou. Rodeo Drive Deo, landing post five with David Miller in the bike, enters off a long-sought Grand Circuit win – when escaping the division’s leader Miki And Minnie – with a 1:50.1 romp in the $280,000 Jugette final. Looksgoodinloulou meanwhile handed Miki And Minnie a rare defeat when she ripped to a 1:48.3 upset at odds of 12-1 in the $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series final on Sept. 14. Yannick Gingras has the call on Looksgoodinloulou from post 10. A pair of Bluegrass division winners, with Noel Daley pupil Champagne Room from post one and Brett Pelling trainee Faze from post seven, also compete in the Garnsey Memorial.
The inevitable match-up between purely Twin B Joe Fresh and Sylvia Hanover will hit the track in race three, the $64,000 Catch The Fire Allerage Mare Pace sponsored by Sugar Valley Farms, with a plus-one to the affair in pylon-starter Yankee B Something. Twin B Joe Fresh earned the morning-line nod as the 3-5 chalk from post two with Dexter Dunn in the bike while Sylvia Hanover competes from post three with Tim Tetrick at the lines for trainer Mark Steacy.
Sunday’s card opens with seven trotting mares sparring in the $80,000 Allerage Trot, sponsored by Wiesman Farms. Graduate Series champ Warrawee Michelle lands post five as the 6-5 morning-line chalk off a third-place effort in the $117,500 Girl Power race at The Meadowlands in late August. Trainer Ake Svanstedt steers the Walner-Sound Check mare against a few other 4-year-olds joining the fray with Marcus Melander trainee Date Night Hanover racing from post two and Canadian invader Willys Home Run starting from post four for trainer Rob Fellows. Armbro Flight champ Dial Square S, another entrant for trainer Svanstedt, also competes and will have Andy McCarthy in the bike from post seven.
Periculum earns early favorite honors in the $160,000 Allerage Trot, carded as race two and sponsored by Armitage Farms. The Marcus Melander-trained 6-year-old by Muscle Hill-Amour Heiress returned to the winner’s circle after suffering three defeats to world champion Lexus Kody when dead-heating in the Caesar’s Trotting Classic with none other than Lexus Kody in a 1:51.1 mile. He escapes Lexus Kody in the Allerage and competes with Scott Zeron in the bike from post two, far inside of stablemate Aetos Kronos S as he looks to build from a runner-up finish to Lexus Kody in the $250,000 Dayton Trotting Derby when starting from post 10 in rein to Dexter Dunn.
Last season’s stateside champion pacing sophomore, Captain Albano, tries to build his lofty resume later on the card in race seven, the $145,500 Allerage Pace sponsored by Jeff & Paula Gural. Todd McCarthy drives the Noel Daley-trained son of Captaintreacherous-Angelou off a second-place finish in a 1:47.2 mile to Ervin Hanover in the $250,000 Dayton Pacing Derby last Saturday. His competition in the seven-horse field includes Sam McKee Memorial division winners Captain Luke from post four and Ken Hanover from post six, as well as last year’s stateside older pacing champion Abuckabett Hanover from post seven.
The headline events of the day, of course, are the $500,000 133rd renewal of the Grade 1 Kentucky Futurity and the $300,000 60th renewal of the Grade 1 Kentucky Filly Futurity, carded as race 11 and race nine, respectively. Dexter Dunn made the choice to drive Super Chapter, the 4-5 morning line chalk, for trainer Marcus Melander in the Kentucky Futurity, handing the lines of post-11 starter Maryland over to Yannick Gingras. He’ll face a pair of trotters with sub-1:50 marks in Go Dog Go from post seven and Emoticon Legacy from post 10 in a stacked 11-horse field.
The Filly Futurity meanwhile has Deja Blu listed as the 5-2 morning line favorite from post five off a runner-up finish in her Bluegrass division. A daughter of 2018 Kentucky Filly Futurity champ Atlanta, Deja Blu competes inside of Ake Svanstedt trainee What A Bid Hanover, making her first start since a scratch in mid-August at Pocono Downs, and against a pair of Bluegrass winners in Delaney Hanover – whose win snapped Yo Tillie’s undefeated sophomore season – and Kadena, a daughter of world-record and Red Mile track-record holder Mission Brief. Last year’s winning Filly Futurity trainer, John Butenschoen, also returns to the race with R Dutchess, who starts from post nine following a disqualification from victory in the Elegantimage final at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The closing day of the Grand Circuit meet at The Red Mile features 11 races total, including a pair of races for Kentucky Futurity and Filly Futurity eligibles on the undercard. A $7,500 guarantee will also be offered on the Early Pick 4, which begins in Race 6. Every Pick 4 at The Red Mile, as well as the 50-cent Pick 5, features an industry-low takeout of just 12 percent.
First-race post time at The Red Mile is 1 p.m. (EDT). For free programs, visit the Red Mile website and scroll down.