Lexington, KY – Andy and Julie Miller’s star freshman trotting filly Wall Of Fame aims to up her record from nine wins in nine starts when she competes as the even-money morning line chalk in the second of four divisions of the $377,000 Bluegrass Stakes for her cohort on Friday afternoon (Oct. 2) at The Red Mile.
Wall Of Fame, with over a half-million dollars banked from victories including in New Jersey-bred finals and more recently her 1:52 lifetime-best performance in the $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series final on Sept. 20, will race from post 5 with Andy Miller at the lines of the Julie Miller trainee in the seven-horse field that competes in Race 6 on the afternoon. Her competition includes Nancy Takter trainee City Of Light (driven by Tim Tetrick, post 4, 7-2), who ships from a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stake at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, along with million-dollar yearling Dejeuner (Andy McCarthy, post 3, 8-1) as she looks for a maiden-breaking win off a runner-up effort in a Kentucky Wildcat division on Sept. 15.
The freshman trotting fillies open the Friday program with their first Bluegrass dash that has both morning-line favorites looking to rebound. Heart Of Secret (Yannick Gingras, post 5, 6-5) earned favoritism from a Kentucky Sire Stakes campaign in which she has not missed the board once from seven starts, though she enters from a second-placed-third performance in the $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series final when making a lapped-on break to the finish of her battle with Wall Of Fame. John Butenschoen trainee Patty’s Girl (Tim Tetrick, post 1, 5-2) is listed as the second favorite following a campaign in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes that concluded with a fourth-place effort in the $300,000 final on Sept. 7 at Pocono Downs, and she followed that effort with a seventh in a Keystone Classic division at The Meadows after breaking stride at the start. Sabia (Scott Zeron, post 2, 6-1), the runner-up finisher in the $100,000 Kentucky Commonwealth Series final on Sept. 21, also competes.
Ohio champion and Melander pupil Blue Ranger (Orjan Kihlstrom, post 1, 2-1) leads the third Bluegrass dash as she looks to return to the winner’s circle following a third-place finish in the Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stake. She draws inside of stablemate Fleur Delacour (Dexter Dunn, post 2, 7-2), who inherited second behind Wall Of Fame from a pocket trip through disqualification in the Kentucky Championship Series final, and also competes against another stablemate in A Tale Of Kemp (Todd McCarthy, post 4, 8-1), who enters from a seventh-place effort when tiring in the $100,000 Kentucky Commonwealth final. Hanna Hill (Andy McCarthy, post 5, 6-1), winner of the Commonwealth final, also draws into the field as well as Nancy Takter pupil Rio De Janeiro (Joe Bongiorno, post 3, 9-2), who makes her first start since finishing runner-up to Wall Of Fame in the $250,000 New Jersey Classic Final on Sept. 11.
Marcus Melander sends another vicious pair in the closing Bluegrass dash for freshman trotting fillies with Birr Castle (Scott Zeron, post 5, 6-5), winner of the $300,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final and the Grade 1 Jim Doherty Memorial at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, and Two Day Hangover (Dexter Dunn, post 8, 2-1), who finished second in the Doherty. Melander also sends Kentucky Golden Rod Series champ Mine Mine Mine (Mattias Melander, post 2, 10-1) in the competitive field that also lures Ake Svanstedt trainee Orinoco (Yannick Gingras, post 4, 3-1), who eyes vindication from a runner-up finish in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final behind Birr Castle.
Friday’s card also features three $89,300 divisions of the Bluegrass Stake for 2-year-old pacing males beginning in Race 3 with $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series winner Gobstopper (Dexter Dunn, post 8, 2-1) making his return to the track. The Tony Dinges trainee bested his peers with a 1:50.2 effort and will match up again in this race with Rumble And Sway (Tim Tetrick, post 1, 3-1), who finished third in that final, and Hold Fast (Atlee Bender, post 3, 6-1), who rallied from last for fifth. The field also includes Lounado (Austin Hanners, post 7, 9-2), a full-brother to champion mare My Girl EJ, as he enters from a win in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes consolation and a third-place effort in the Keystone Classic at The Meadows on Sept. 17.
The second division, going to gate in Race 4, gathers a field of eight with Dinges pupil Blazin Lou (Todd McCarthy, post 1, 2-1) stamped as the morning-line favorite following a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Championship Series final. The field also draws several from champion dams including Blue Eyed Stranger (Yannick Gingras, post 5, 3-1), a Tall Dark Stranger homebred colt out of millionaire mare Blue Diamond Eyes, Night Agent (Andy McCarthy, post 7, 6-1), a Captaintreacherous colt out of world champion and Red Mile track record holder Shebestingin, and Hades (Dexter Dunn, post 8, 12-1), a Sweet Lou colt out of millionaire mare Darlinonthebeach.
Trainer Ron Burke sends the morning-line chalks in the last Bluegrass division for freshman pacing males, carded as Race 7, with Ocean Party (Tim Tetrick, post 6, 2-1) and Stonebridge Blitz (Yannick Gingras, post 1, 3-1). Ocean Party still seeks to break his maiden, though he put together his best effort to date back on Sept. 12 when finishing runner-up at 58-1 in a 1:49.4 mile in the $300,000 Ohio Sires Stakes final. His stablemate Stonebridge Blitz is also winless coming into the Bluegrass, though he finished runner-up in his most recent start with a 1:51.2 effort in the Grade 3 Elevation Stakes at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Sept. 25. This division also includes Dog Dare You (Dexter Dunn, post 5, 9-2), an upset winner in the $100,000 Kentucky Commonwealth Series, and Reflector (Todd McCarthy, post 8, 8-1), a Bulldog Hanover colt out of Breeders Crown winner Reflect With Me that enters from a runner-up effort in the Kentucky Golden Rod Series.
The 13-race card on Friday gets underway at 1 p.m. (EDT) and features a 50-cent Pick-5 beginning in Race 3 as well as a pair of Pick-4 wagers with one starting in Race 6 and the other in Race 10. The Pick-5 and the Pick-4 are offered at an industry low takeout of just 12 percent.
Live harness racing during the Grand Circuit meeting will take place on a Thursday through Saturday rotation with the highlight day of the meet being on Saturday, Oct. 3 for the 134th edition of the Kentucky Futurity, the final jewel of the Trotting Triple Crown.
For more information on the 2026 live harness racing season, visit The Red Mile website (https://www.redmileracing.com).