Lexington, KY – Driver Andy McCarthy bided his time off torching speed laid by Thai Hanover and launched into action at the right time to seize a 1:48.4 victory with Signal Caller in the third of four dashes for the $298,500 Bluegrass 2-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Pace – a division sponsored by Brittany Farms – on Friday (Sept. 26) at The Red Mile.
McCarthy secured a seat in third out of post seven behind Captain Apple (driven by Dexter Dunn) while Thai Hanover (Jeremy Indof) zipped to a wide lead heading to a :26.1 first quarter. Indof kept his headstrong charge rolling up the backstretch while maintaining an open lead to a :53.2 half and stayed on the muscle as the backfield began gathering speed through the final turn. Signal Caller attacked first up through three-quarters in 1:20.4 and easily collared weary Thai Hanover in the stretch while keeping 1-5 favorite Ubrute (Yannick Gingras) at bay to win by a length. Ubrute snagged second from Thai Hanover and Captain Apples finished fourth.
“(Noel’s) picked the right horses and the horses are special,” said Harvey Fried, who co-owns Signal Caller through Patricia Stable. “We’ve been very fortunate the last few years. Coming home he just has heart. Heart, heart, heart; :25 and change, :25 and change (last quarters). He’s got it. I thought he could win – when he was sitting third, he has a tremendous kick in the last quarter. I know our guy’s going to finish. Ubrute – I mean, we caught a break; he got stuck inside. We finished well.”
Noel Daley trains Signal Caller, a Captaintreacherous-Square Dancer colt, for owners Patricia Stable, Kovach Stables, Sjoblom Racing and L A Express Stables. He won his fourth race from eight starts, has now earned $103,439 and paid $15.16 to win.
Melillo (Yannick Gingras) trounced his peers as the 1-9 chalk with a 1:50.1 effort in the first Bluegrass male pace division, sponsored by Brittany Farms.
Gingras circled Melillo out of second to take the lead from Up In Place (Marvin Luna) after a :27.4 first quarter and sailed unchallenged up the backstretch to a :55.4 half. Melillo faced a mild first-over challenge through the last turn from Downbythelakeside (David Miller) that he easily disposed after three-quarters in 1:23.4. The Sweet Lou-Rosemary Rose colt pulled away under wraps in the stretch to post a 2-3/4-length win with Up In Place grabbing second. Downbythelakeside held third and Louaville (Jason Bartlett) finished fourth.
Ron Burke trains Melillo, a homebred for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Jason Melillo and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. The colt won his second race from nine starts and has amassed $169,902 in earnings. He paid $2.20 to win.
Brandon Blvd (Dexter Dunn) returned to the winner’s circle with a 1:49.1 performance in the second Bluegrass male pace division, sponsored by the Stay Hungry Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farms.
Dunn swooped to the top with Brandon Blvd passing a :27.2 first quarter and maintained steady speed through middle fractions of :54.3 and 1:22.4. Funky Buddha (Todd McCarthy) attempted a first-over charge through the final turn but promptly tired turning for home while Brandon Blvd fought heartily to the finish for a length win. Another C Note (Tim Tetrick) rallied up the pylons to take second with Thiago Hanover (Yannick Gingras) giving chase off a pocket trip for third and Show Me Your Ace (David Miller) closing down the center of the track for fourth.
“I actually told my guys right from the get-go that this would be a (1):49 2-year-old,” trainer Andrew Harris said after the race. “I had no doubts about that, and I said it early – I want to say it was like March. I was super high on him. He was one of those ones when we were training early was just going through the motions and then all a sudden one day in March he just turned on and I was like ‘Whoa.’ He’s more like a Captaintreacherous – he’s never going to pull off and win by 10. He’s one of those ones that likes to sit there and do his work. If they come at him, he’ll keep going.”
Harris shares ownership of Brandon Blvd, a Downbytheseaside-Alexis Faith colt, with partners Bill Pollock and Bruce Areman. The colt won his fifth race from seven starts and has now earned $282,750. Sent the 1-9 favorite, he paid $2.10 to win.
Odds-on choice Be Sting (Dexter Dunn) rushed uncovered through the last turn to deliver a 1:50 win in the last Bluegrass male pace division, sponsored by the Stay Hungry Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farms.
Dunn raced fourth with Be Sting through a :27.1 first quarter and floated the Perfect Sting-Odds On St Lucie gelding off the pylons passing a :55.3 half. He rolled forward on the rim through the turn to confront pacesetter Drink To That (Scott Zeron) and swiftly surged to a length lead at three-quarters in 1:23.3 before dashing clear in the stretch. Be Sting strolled under wraps to a three-length victory over Winnercircleseeker (Yannick Gingras), who followed the winner’s cover to take second. Gunmetal (Todd McCarthy) rallied from third over for third and Papi Rick (Andy McCarthy) kicked off a ground-saving trip for fourth.
“What I like is that he’s even getting better every week,” said George Segal, who co-owns Be Sting through Brittany Farms. “Today, first over from the half … and [led] all the way down the stretch.”
Be Sting won his third race from six starts and has now earned $101,200 for owners Val D’Or Farms, Brittany Farms and AC Crawford Racing Stable. Joe Holloway trains the gelding who paid $3.76 to win.
Live racing resumes at The Red Mile on Saturday (Sept. 27) with 12 total divisions of Bluegrass – four divisions for the $294,200 Bluegrass 3-Year-Old Filly Trot, three divisions for the $212,000 Bluegrass 3-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Pace, three divisions for the $261,000 Bluegrass 3-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Trot and two divisions for the $171,000 Bluegrass 3-Year-Old Filly Pace.
Saturday’s card also features a $7,500 guarantee on the Early Pick 4, which covers races 6-9. Every Pick 4 and the 50-cent Pick 5, which begins in race three and has another sequence start in race eight, at The Red Mile features a low takeout of 12 percent.
First-race post time at The Red Mile is 1 p.m. (EDT).