Hambo champ scores in Kentucky Championship Series

Lexington, KY — Hambletonian victor Tactical Approach (Tactical Landing-Sarcy) rebounded off a second-place finish in his last harness racing appearance in the $80,000 fourth round of the Kentucky Championship Series for sophomore male trotters in 1:51.2. Twin B Joe Fresh (Roll With Joe-Casual Breeze) engaged in a vicious battle with nemesis Strong Poison to capture her respective division of the series conducted for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Sunday (Sept. 10) to collect her fifth consecutive triumph to become the sport’s newest millionaire at Red Mile in 1:49.1.

The nine-race card also included three Kentucky Commonwealth Series events and three Kentucky Goldenrod Series contests.

Heavily favored Tactical Approach and regular reinsman Scott Zeron began to trot from post position six in a very strong field of six. They sat in fifth as longshot Brodeur (Tony Hall) set the first fraction of :27.2. That was when second choice, Kilmister (Brian Sears) took control. After trotting in :56.1 for the half-mile and 1:24.2 three-quarters around the red clay oval, Kilmister’s rivals were beginning to advance while Tactical Approach was at the back of the pack.

Point Of Perfect (Yannick Gingras) poked a nose in front rounding the final turn with Khaosan Road (Tim Tetrick) breathing down his neck. At this juncture, Tactical Approach began to roll and moved into fourth.

He used a :26.1 final quarter panel to claim victory by three-quarters of a length. Ari Ferrari J (Dexter Dunn) was second. Point Of Perfect held third.

TACTICAL APPROACH REPLAY

Trained by Nancy Takter, Tactical Approach improved his resume to 17-8-1-4 and boosted his bank account to $717,989.

The colt was bred by Steve Stewart and Oakwood Farms. He was purchased for $85,000 at the 2021 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale by Robert Leblanc, John Fielding and Joe Sbrocco and Jaf Racing.

Tactical Approach’s granddam is 2003 O’Brien Award winner Southwind Allaire (Valley Victory, $733,514).

He paid $2.66 to win.

Defending Kentucky and New Jersey champion Twin B Joe Fresh (Dunn) engaged in another tremendous battle in the lane to defeat familiar foe Strong Poison (Gingras) by three-quarters of a length. She has not lost since a second-place finish to Dan Patch and O’Brien Award winner Sylvia Hanover in the $169,00 Mistletoe Shalee on July 15.

Charleston (Tim Tetrick) assumed command as the mile commenced from post position three while Dunn and his filly settled in fourth from post position two. Strong Poison also allowed Charleston to lead the field of six through splits of :27.4, :56.2 and 1:24 before the battle was on.

Charleston remained in front by a head in the drive for the wire, but Twin B Joe Fresh and Strong Poison were in hot pursuit.

Despite throwing down a :25.2 final quarter fraction, Charleston could not hold off the sizzling :24.3 and :24.4 advances of the two favored fillies.

Twin B Joe Fresh reigned supreme. Strong Poison, after a courageous mile of her own, was relegated to second. Charleston paced a strong mile to be third.

TWIN B JOE FRESH REPLAY

Bred by Brittany Farms, the filly is co-owned by her driver, her trainer, Chris Ryder, in addition to Peter Trebotica and Barry Spak.

Twin B Joe Fresh now sports a resume of 20-15-3-1 and has earned $1.04 million in purse money.

She is the first foal out of an unraced dam and was a $65,000 purchase at the 2021 Standardbred Horse Sale.

Twin B Joe Fresh paid $2.28 to win.

Horizontal Collects Third Straight in Commonwealth Series

Horizontal (Always B Miki-Geometry, Zeron, $4.88) won this third consecutive race in the sole $30,000 Commonwealth Series fourth round division for 3-year-old male pacers in a lifetime best 1:48.4.

He is trained by Linda Toscano and was bred Diamond Creek Farm. He is owned by Determination and sold for $47,000 at the 2021 Standardbred Horse Sale.

Horizontal is a half-sibling to freshman filly pacing phenom Geocentric (Sweet Lou, $294,501).

Djimon (Tactical Landing-Sheena’s Shadow, Gingras, $16.58) scored a sight upset over favored Prince Of Honor (Todd McCarthy) with a new lifetime mark of 1:52.1 in the first of two Commonwealth fourth round legs for sophomore male trotters.

Trained by Mark Steacy, he is owned by Hudson Standardbred Inc., Dale Larson and Stephen Downey. He was bred by James Wilhite Jr. and is a half-brother to Winning Shadow (Credit Winner-$883,896) and Ritson (Cantab Hall, $229,078).

Dire Straits (Muscle Hill-Southwind Cocoa, David Miller, $7.74) collected his first win in 2023 in a lifetime best 1:51.4 in the second division for 3-year-old male trotters. He is a half-sibling to Crime Fighter (Chapter Seven, $185,211) and Magnificent Seven (Chapter Seven, $147,094).

Trained by Mattias Melander, Dire Straits was bred by Richard Gutnick who co-owns with Thomas Pontone and Gary Cocco.

He was fourth in the Breeders Crown last year behind Gaines Hanover.

Tetrick Takes Two of Three Goldenrod Series Events

Chamba (Cantab Hall, Tetrick, $2.78) took the first of two $15,000 fourth round legs of the Kentucky Goldenrod Series for 3-year-old male trotters. Tetrick also guided Naranjo ($45.62) to victory in the second division.

Keep My Secret (Captaintreacherous, Tony Hall, $3.74) prevailed in the only Goldenrod Series leg for sophomore male pacers.

The $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series finals will take place on Sunday (Sept. 17) with the $100,000 finals for the Kentucky Commonwealth Series on Monday (Sept. 18) and the $50,000 Goldenrod Series finals on Tuesday (Sept. 19).

Red Mile offers a rich buffet of wagering items including a 20-cent Pick-6 with 15 percent takeout, a 50-cent Pick-5 with an industry low 12 percent takeout, a Super Hi-5 15 percent takeout, and Pick-4 events, with a $10,000 guaranteed pool in conjunction with the U.S. Trotting Association’s Strategic Wagering Program.

Red Mile races on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday schedule with a 1 p.m. EDT post time through Oct. 8. Free program pages are available at redmileracing.com in addition to race replays and a daily livestream of each card.

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

by Kimberly French, for Red Mile