Karl headlines $3.4 million KYSS Championships

Lexington, KY — On Sunday (Sept. 15) Hambletonian and Dan Patch Award winner, Karl (Tactical Landing), seeks his second Kentucky championship at The Red Mile in a 10-race harness racing extravaganza worth $3.4 million. There are, however, many other competitors in the seven other divisions, including budding superstars and some regally bred individuals in two $100,000 Kentucky Commonwealth Series finals.

Fans will have to wait until the sixth race for Karl’s bid for his second Kentucky crown and his sixth consecutive victory, but the five contests staged prior to his pari-mutuel appearance offer plenty of opportunities to witness some of the best athletes this sport has to offer.

Freshman and Sophomore Filly Trotters vie for glory in Commonwealth Series finals

Deja Blu (Muscle Hill-Atlanta, Yannick Gingras), Kadena (Gimpanzee-Mission Brief, Dexter Dunn) and Voguish (Gimpanzee-Joelene Joelene, James MacDonald) square off in the $100,000 Commonwealth Series final for 2-year-old filly trotters. All three fillies possess victories in series legs and have pedigrees that make the premise breeding the best to get the best well founded.

Deju Blu is the first foal out of 2018 Hambletonian winner and world champion Atlanta. She leaves from post position one and is 8-5 on the morning line. She seeks her fourth consecutive win for trainer Nancy Takter and owners Crawford Farms Racing and Thomas Pontone.

Kadena is 9-2 on the morning line and will begin trotting from post position five in the field of 10 for conditioner Marcus Melander and owners Jeffrey Snyder and S R F Stable. She is 4-2-2-0 in her young career and her world champion dam is a full sister to Tactical Landing, the sire of the last two Hambletonian winners.

Kadena was the $800,000 sales topper at last year’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.

Voguish’s family tree is no less impressive than her rivals. She is a half sibling to 2021 O’Brien Award winner Venerable (Walner, $1.18 million).

The filly is trained by trained by Andrew Harris. She is 7-1 on the morning line and will leave from post position seven. She is owned by Bill Pollock, Bruce Areman and her trainer. Her record is 5-2-0-1.

Pisco Sour (Walner-Blessed, Tim Tetrick) captured three legs of this series and is poised to claim the divisional title in the Commonwealth Series event for 3-year-old filly trotters. She is trained by Ake Svanstedt and is owned by Jorgen Sparredal Inc.

The filly will leave from post position nine in the field of 10 and is 5-2 on the morning line.

The question is can she overcome the outside draw?

Only she can answer that query.

Louprint, Looksgoodinloulou ready to roll in Championship Series finals for 2-year-old male and female pacers

Louprint (Sweet Lou-Rockin Racer, Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) will begin his mile over the red clay from post position five in a field of five as the even money morning line selection. He competes as a homebred and enters this event off three consecutive wins, including one over the only horse to defeat him, stablemate Sippinonsearoc (Gingras). That loss was by a neck and Sippinonsearoc is the fastest 2-year-old in the history of the sport with a 1:48.2 mile over this course on Aug. 13.

Louprint, however, was not a member of that field. He competes as a homebred for Weaver Bruscemi and Phillip Collura.

Looksgoodinloulou (Sweet Lou-Looksgoodinaromper, Gingras) pursues her crown after suffering her first career defeat in the final leg of this series on Sept. 9, but the fledging star left post position 10 in the second tier and had plenty of traffic problems.

She drew post position seven in the field of eight for this event and is 2-1 on the morning line. Her lifetime mark of 1:50.2 ties her with Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion and stablemate, Rose, as the swiftest freshman pacing filly in 2024.

Looksgoodinloulou races as a homebred for Weaver Bruscemi and her conditioner, Ron Burke. Her resume stands at 3-2-0.

Karl, Date Night Hanover defend their crowns in sophomore finals for male and female filly trotters

Karl, one of the top candidates for Horse of the Year, will make his bid for a second championship in the Bluegrass from post position seven in the field of seven for trainer Nancy Takter. He is 7-5 on the morning line and takes on familiar foes Secret Agent Man (Andy Miller, 5-2), who drew the rail, as well as Dame Good Time (Scott Zeron, 7-2) Dame Good Time leaves from post position five.

Karl has been simply sublime since his second career defeat and only loss in 2024 from 10 trips to the gate in the $135,000 Stanley Dancer Memorial at The Meadowlands on July 13.

The colt is owned by Christina and Nancy Takter, Black Horse Racing, Crawford Farms Racing and Bender Sweden Inc.

Date Night Hanover (Chapter Seven-Don’t Wait Up, Dunn) looks to return to the winner’s circle after finishing second in the fourth leg of this series on Sept. 2 to Woman Of Passion (Todd McCarthy), who is also in this field of eight. Woman Of Passion is 2-1 on the morning line after drawing the five-hole.

Trained by Marcus Melander, Date Night Hanover, is 9-5 on the morning line and leaves right next to her rival from post position four.

She was in top form at this facility establishing and equaling her lifetime mark of 1:51.2 after going off stride in the $525,000 Hambletonian Oaks on Aug. 3.

Owned by Jeffrey Snyder and ONDA Racing Stable, Date Night Hanover is competing for her fourth win from 11 starts this season.

The defending Kentucky champion has demonstrated an affinity for this surface.

Luna Lovegood, Super Chapter resume their efforts for crowns in the finals for 2-year-old male and female trotters

Luna Lovegood (Gimpanzee-Southwind Venus, Dunn) is 9-5 on the morning line and will begin trotting from post position three in a field of eight in her bid to capture championship honors for trainer Marcus Melander and owner Holly Lane Stud.

She has only one loss from four starts, all in this series, and that was in the second leg after starting from the second tier. She went off stride behind the gate and had an adventurous journey but has rebounded with two strong victories.

Super Chapter (Chapter Seven, Dunn) looks to collect a Kentucky crown after breaking behind the gate in the $225,000 New York Sire Stakes final for his age, sex and gait at Yonkers Raceway on Sept. 7 as the favorite.

The colt, trained by Melander, won the first two legs of this series before finishing third to Chat Room (Gingras, 7-2) who had a more advantageous draw as he does again here. Chat room leaves from post position two, while Super Chapter will commence his mile from post position eight in the field of 10. They are exactly the same posts they started from in their last meeting.

Out of 2014 Hambletonian Oaks winner Lifetime Pursuit, Super Chapter is owned by Jeffrey Snyder and Arthur Ponti. The colt’s record is 6-3-1-1.

It’s A Love Thing, Nuclear favored in 3-year-old events for male and female pacers

It’s A Love Thing (Bettor’s Delight-Love For Sale, MacDonald) will bid for her first Kentucky title in the event for sophomore filly pacers. She is on track for her fifth victory in a row after scratching from the $112,480 Simcoe Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Sept. 7.

Trained by David Menary, It’s A Love Thing captured the $310,250 Fan Hanover at Woodbine Mohawk Park and the $100,000 Jerry Silverman at The Meadowlands prior to her lone appearance in a series leg in Lexington on Aug. 6.

She is 9-7-2 on the season and has placed $462,174 in the bank for owners Erik Good, Thomas Biederman, Josh Green and Rich Lombardo Racing.

It’s A Love Thing is 8-5 on the morning line and commences her mile from post position four in the field of seven.

Nuclear (Always B Miki-Can’tgetenuffofyou, Dunn) is 2-1 on the morning line his respective finals division. The gelding leaves from post position four in a contentious field of eight for trainer Joe Holloway.

Nuclear won the second leg of this series after finishing third to defending Kentucky champion Bettor Is Nice (Andrew McCarthy, post position two, 7-2) in the first leg then losing by a neck to upsetter Dancin Champion (David Miller, post position three, 15-1) in the third leg.

The gelding dead-heated for second with Women Layer (Todd McCarthy, post position six, 5-2) in the fourth leg of the series behind Bettor Is Nice.

Nuclear is owned by Val D’Or Farms. This contest would be his third win from nine starts this season. He was fourth in the $700,000 Breeders Crown last year at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.

The first post for the culmination of the 2024 Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series is at 5:05 p.m. Racing continues with six $100,000 Kentucky Commonwealth Series finals on Monday (Sept. 16) and Tuesday (Sept. 17) with eight $50,000 finals of the Kentucky Golden Rod Series. The first post for Monday and Tuesday is at 1 p.m.

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

by Kimberly French, for The Red Mile