Walner filly earns fastest win in International Stallion Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky.— Chris Beaver pupil Pizzelle (Walner) pulled off the pylons to the final turn and slid to the lead with ease to nab the first of four harness racing divisions for the $348,000 International Stallion Stakes for 2-year-old trotting fillies on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 7) at The Red Mile.

Draw The Line led the field to the quarter in :28.1 with Pisco Sour positioned second and Glamorous Hanover in third. Pizzelle raced fourth and stayed in fourth through a :57.3 stroll to the half, but soon got her cue to go from David Miller circling the final turn. Pizzelle marched forward and collared Draw The Line after three-quarters in 1:26 to then pull away in the lane and win by 1-1/4 lengths. Pisco Sour slid through the inside for second, but was placed third for a pylon violation. Draw The Line moved up to the second spot and Glamorous Hanover took fourth.

PIZZELLE REPLAY

“I got her early in the sale last year and we thought [she was] pretty cheap for $65,000 – she’s always shown me an absolute ton of speed and she’s natural gaited, a lot cleaner than most horses I trained,” Chris Beaver said. “She had a little bit of a rough patch in the summer; she wasn’t trying real hard. We took a step back, turned her out for a little bit and she’s come back better and better every week since. I thought if she raced good today like she did last week we’d go to the Breeders Crown.”

Pizelle won her second race from nine starts and has now earned $101,500 for owners Chris Beaver and Donald Robinson. She paid $6.06 to win.

Andy McCarthy bided his time on cover through the lane and struck within the last eighth of a mile to land Buy A Round (Walner) in the winner’s circle again after a 1:53.3 mile in the second division.

Senorita Palema powered from the outermost post to lead the field through a :28 first quarter. Buy A Round sat sixth into the backstretch and made no moves while the tempo stayed tepid to a :57.1 half. To the final turn, Buy A Round flushed cover from Date Night Hanover and sat perched through three-quarters in 1:26.3, but stayed tucked behind a wall through the lane until late stretch. Buy A Round uncorked a swift rally in the last strides to win by a head over a fast-closing Sierra Girl. Senorita Palema held third and Date Night Hanover settled for fourth.

“She’s quite a filly,” winning owner-breeder Fred Hertrich III said. “Noel [Daley]’s done a great job with her. She’s average size or a little bit below average size, but when she turns for home she absolutely takes no prisoners. Luckily at this big red mile, we had enough room to work and sprint home and get the money.”

BUY A ROUND REPLAY 

Buy A Round has now won five times from seven tries and has accrued $267,500. Noel Daley trains her, and she paid $3.22 to win.

Jim Doherty Memorial winner Soiree Hanover (Walner) mounted a similar stretch charge to claim a narrow victory in the third frosh filly trot division.

Paulina Hanover stole a soft middle half after posting a :27.3 opener. Warrawee Michelle, the 6-5 second choice, sat third with even-money favorite Soiree Hanover in no hurry from fifth. After a :58.4 half and three-quarters in 1:27.1, the favorites took action. Warrawee Michelle ground first over after Paulina Hanover while Soiree Hanover followed in tow and then angled wide in the last eighth to accelerate and put a neck in front of Warrawee Michelle in 1:54.1. Paulina Hanover settled for third and 98-1 shot Spy Coast took fourth.

“It’s a great feeling – I won some races in Sweden, but it’s huge to be here and win a race at The Red Mile,” co-owner Calle Wihlborg, of Commander Crowe fame, said. “She’s a great filly. I’m so thankful to Lucas and his team. They do a great job with this fantastic filly.”

SOIREE HANOVER REPLAY

Soiree Hanover won her fifth race from seven starts and pushed her earnings to $436,175 for owner Snogarps Gard Inc. Lucas Wallin trains the filly who paid $4.06 to win.

Favorites dominated in the filly trots and nearly landed the gamble in the final division until Santa Croce (Father Patrick) crept through a crevice to the pylons to upend 4-5 favorite R Melina in 1:54 at odds of 40-1.

Todd McCarthy rolled Santa Croce from post 7 and brushed to lead Miss I La after a :28 first quarter. R Melina then moved from fifth and slowly advanced to clear command after a :57.2 half. Holding a mild tempo through the final turn, R Melina kept Volcanic Blue Chip parked and came under urging to reengage after three-quarters in 1:26. R Melina fought but drifted through the stretch, opening a lane for Santa Croce to slip through and push a nose in front to the finish. Miss I La weaved through traffic to finish third and Volcanic Blue Chip settled for fourth.

“She really raced good [last week], she actually trotted a back half in [:]54 and a piece last week,” winning trainer Jim Campbell said. “She trained down like a real nice filly, but we just hit some unfortunate sickness, and bad things happened at bad times for her. But we were very happy with her last couple of races here. She’s a nice filly, she’s growing a lot and we’re probably just going to make this her last start of the year and turn her out, let her mature and get ready for next year.”

SANTA CROCE REPLAY

Santa Croce competes for owner Coyote Wynd Farms. She broke her maiden with the victory in her eighth start and has now earned $83,300. She paid $83.62 to win.

Three of the four divisions of the $348,000 International Stallion Stakes for 2-year-old trotting fillies were named “The International Moni” and sponsored by the International Moni Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farms. The other division was named “The Chapter Seven” and was presented by Blue Chip Farms.

Racing at The Red Mile will conclude for the stakes meeting on Sunday (Oct. 7) with a 15-race card headlined by the 131^st edition of the $450,000 Kentucky Futurity. Sunday’s card features high-money guarantees with mandatory payouts: four $10,000-guaranteed pools for the Pick 6 (starting in Race 1), Early Pick 5 (Race 3), Late Pick 5 (Race 8) and Late Pick 4 (Race 12). The Red Mile will also feature $20,000 guarantees for the Early Pick 4 (Race 6) as well as in the Trifecta pools for the Kentucky Filly Futurity (Race 10) and the Kentucky Futurity (Race 15). Red Mile also offers an industry-low 12 percent takeout on its Pick 5 and Pick 4.

First-race post time at The Red Mile is 1 p.m. (EDT).

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

by Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile