Second week of Red Mile Grand Circuit begins

Harness Racing This Week: Red Mile Grand Circuit, The Red Mile, Lexington, Ky.

Schedule of events: The second week of Grand Circuit action at The Red Mile kicks off on Thursday (Oct. 5) with five divisions in the $283,000 International Stallion Stake for 2-year-old colt trotters. The Friday (Oct. 6) card features five divisions in the $289,000 International Stallion Stake for 2-year-old filly trotters. On Saturday (Oct. 7) The Red Mile will host the $300,000 (est.) International Stallion Stake for 2-year-old colt pacers, the $300,000 (est.) International Stallion Stake for 2-year-old filly pacers and a pair of $150,000 (est.) Allerage races for open pacers and open trotters. On Sunday (Oct. 8), The Red Mile will offer the $500,000 (est.) Kentucky Futurity, the third leg of Trotting's Triple Crown for 3-year-olds, the companion $300,000 (est.) Kentucky Filly Futurity for 3-year-old filly trotters, the $450,000 (est.) Tattersalls Pace for 3-year-old colt pacers, the $275,000 (est.) Glen Garnsey Memorial for 3-year-old filly pacers, and $75,000 (est.) Allerage races for older pacing mares and older trotting mares.

Complete entries for the races are available at this link.

Last time: A large and enthusiastic throng turned out Friday night (Sept. 29) for a pair of Grand Circuit stakes at Hollywood Dayton Raceway. Pasithea Face S, one of just two mares in the eight-horse $167,000 Dayton Trotting Derby, showed her heels to the field in 1:53, a new track record for trotting mares at the four-year-old five-eighths-mile oval.

Driver Tim Tetrick hustled the daughter of Muscle Hill from the gate, leading pocketsitter JL Cruze (David Miller) and parked out Hannelore Hanover (Matt Kakaley) to the quarter in :27. Hannelore Hanover, the lukewarm favorite and the other female in the contest, inched past JL Cruze while still on the rim at the half in :54.4.

The tempo slackened in the third panel due to strong headwinds down the backstretch, but Pasithea Face S continued to front the classy trotters in 1:24.2.

Tetrick, who explained, "I thought it was her race to win if I could get the lead. I put her in a bad spot two weeks ago in the Maple Leaf Trot, but I knew she'd be good if I got her a clean trip tonight," urged the winner through a :28.3 closing quarter-mile to seal the deal.

It was the 12th career win for the lightly raced 5-year-old and pushed her lifetime bounty past $560,000. Trotting guru Jimmy Takter trains the Derby champion for Courant Inc.

Rockin Ron became the sport's newest millionaire when he brushed home a 1:50.2 winner in the $140,000 Dayton Pacing Derby. Driver Matt Kakaley was content to sit near the back of the nine-horse pack for the first five-eighths of the mile, before taking up fourth-over position down the backside and angling to the outside coming out of the final turn and exploding in the stretch.

Luck Be Withyou (Brett Miller) left alertly from the innermost post position to cut early fractions of :26.3 and :54.4 while Easy Lover Hanover (Doug McNair) enjoyed a pocket ride with longshot Boston Red Rocks (Josh Sutton) racing gamely on the outside. Boston Red Rocks actually nudged ahead by a neck at the 1:21.4 third-quarter clocking, just before the cavalry charge from the rear commenced.

When Boston Red Rocks began to tire, second-over Dealt A Winner (Aaron Merriman) took his best shot, which resulted in a second place finish. Third-over Missile J (Tim Tetrick) also finished strongly to garner the show dough after Rockin Ron swept past both of them during the :28.3 closing panel.

The 5-year-old son of Real Desire now owns 27 victories and the winner's share of the purse sent his earnings skyrocketing to $1,006,107. Ron Burke trains Rockin Ron for Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi and RTC Stables.

Complete recaps of all the races are available at the Grand Circuit website.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2017, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2017 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders through and including the races on Sept. 30.

Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 1,109.5; 2. David Miller – 869; 3. Tim Tetrick – 778; 4. Scott Zeron – 500; 5. Corey Callahan – 398.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 973.5; 2. Jimmy Takter – 847.5; 3. Brian Brown – 400; 4. John Butenschoen – 316; 5. Linda Toscano – 308.

Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 230; 2. Emerald Highlands Farm – 205; 3. Determination – 204; 4. Weaver Bruscemi – 196.2; 5. Diamond Creek Racing – 161.5.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will take place next weekend at Yonkers Raceway, Hoosier Park and Northfield Park. Yonkers will offer the Yonkers International Trot at Empire City Casino for free-for-all trotters; Hoosier will contest Circle City races for 3-year-olds and Madison County events for 2-year-olds; and Northfield will host the Courageous Lady for 3-year-old filly pacers.

Paul Ramlow