Direction finds way home, Chat Room upsets at The Red Mile

Lexington, KY — On Sunday (Aug. 18) Direction (Always B Miki-Blood Red) made a statement with her triumph in the $80,000 second leg of the Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series (KYSS) for 3-year-old filly pacers while Chat Room (Chapter Seven-Fatima Blush) posted an upset in the division for freshman male pacers at The Red Mile.

Although many were anxiously awaiting the return of Kentucky champion and Dan Patch Award winner Geocentric, Direction (Todd McCarthy) was steered to the finish line in first place. She finished a strong second to Its A Love Thing, who is on a four-race winning streak, on Aug. 6 over the same oval.

Without the Fan Hanover final and Jerry Silverman Memorial winner in this field, Direction seized the lead after the wings of the gate unfolded to trip the timer in :28.1 for the first quarter mile. Bath Bomb (Yannick Gingras) assumed command prior to a half in :55.2 as Direction sat in the pocket with Fearless Bettor following in third position.

When it was time for the final drive to the wire, Direction put away Bath Bomb but had to stave off the late surge of Fearless Bettor.

The Brett Pelling trainee held off Fearless Bettor by a nose in a new lifetime mark of 1:50.1 with a last quarter in :27. Neridas Wish (Andrew McCarthy) rounded out the trifecta as the longest shot on the board at 31-1. Favored Geocentric (Tim Tetrick) was fourth.

DIRECTION REPLAY

Bred by Diamond Creek Farm, Direction competes for that facility’s racing operation. The filly improved her overall record to 13-9-1-2 and has now earned $156,796 in two years of racing.

She is 7-5-1-0 in 2024.

Direction is the first foal out of her dam who is half-sibling to Blood Brother (Somebeachsomewhere, $980,795), Blood Line (Somebeachsomewhere, $569,006) and Blood Feud (Somebeachsomewhere, $184,045). Blood Red is a full sister to Blood Money (Sweet Lou, $472,300).

The filly paid $5.60 to win as the second selection in the wagering.

Chat Room (Gingras) snapped heavily favored Super Chapter’s (Dexter Dunn) three-race winning streak to collect his third win from six pari-mutuel miles in the $80,000 third leg of the KYSS for 2-year-old male pacers. The final time of 1:56 was also a new personal best. Go Dog Go (Todd McCarthy) was second and Super Chapter was third.

Chat Room is trained by John Butenschoen.

Longshot Landing On Time (Scott Zeron) led the field of 12 through fractions of :28.3, :58 and 1:27.4 as Chat Room paced in second. As Landing On Time tired in the drive to the wire, Chat Room simply continued his strong effort and was rewarded by visiting the winner’s circle.

Favorite Super Chapter left from post position eight and did not have the smoothest of trips. Chat Room and Go Dog Go were assigned post positions two and four.

CHAT ROOM REPLAY

Bred by Marvin Katz, Sam Goldband and Al Libfeld, Chat Room is the third foal out of his unraced dam and was a $47,000 purchase at the 2023 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale by James Crawford IV, Charles Rowe, David Miller and Lawrence Means.

Chat Room’s granddam is a full sister to world champion and Ohio stallion Dejarmbro (Credit Winner, $1.13 million).

The gelding has amassed $90,280 in earnings.

Chat Room provided his supporters with $26.84 to win as the third choice in the wagering.

Davenport strides to victory in the Commonwealth Series

Davenport, a half-sister to 2023 Horse of the Year Confederate, established a new lifetime best of 1:49.3 in the $30,000 second round leg of the Kentucky Commonwealth Series for 3-year-old pacing fillies. Capytreach (A. McCarthy) was second and Real Deal Lindy was third.

Davenport is by Captain Crunch and trained by Pelling. The filly is owned by Diamond Creek Racing and was bred by Diamond Creek Farm.

She paid $7.56 to win. Her record is 12-6-3-1 and she has banked $66,985.

Yannick G Kemp (Peter Wrenn) took the first of two $30,000 second round legs of the Commonwealth Series for 2-year-old male pacers in 1:54 with Castel Lindy (Dunn) scoring in the second division for that age and sex in 1:57.4.

Racing continues at The Red Mile on Monday (Aug. 19) and Tuesday (Aug. 20). First post on each day is 1 p.m.

To receive free program pages to handicap the track with the lowest takeout in the sport visit redmileky.com.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Kimberly French, for The Red Mile