Karl nearly ties world record at Red Mile

LEXINGTON, Ky.— The undefeated Tactical Landing colt Karl rung up his fifth straight harness racing victory when coming just a tick of a second off the world record in taking the fifth of five divisions for the $405,100 Bluegrass 2-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot at The Red Mile on Thursday afternoon (Sept. 28).

Driver Yannick Gingras floated 1-9 favored Karl into fourth while Hankins Hanover clocked a :27.3 first quarter with Stormcloudfashion in the pocket. Gingras then gave Karl his head up the backside and brushed to the top into a :56.2 half. Holding his speed through three-quarters in 1:24, Karl stretched his lead into the lane and strolled in under a hand drive to a two-length win in 1:51.2 over Hankins Hanover, with Southwind Metric mounting a late charge for third and Bright Star taking fourth.

“He’s really funny,” Jimmy Takter said of Karl. “He jumps around, he’s feeling good, he made two breaks on me in the warmup, and I said ‘Nancy, what the heck is this?’ He always does this. He doesn’t pay attention, and Yannick said as soon as he got up behind the gate, he took the bit. He never took the bit from me warming up. Yannick says if he asked him, he would’ve trotted under [1:]50 today.”

Karl has now earned $330,310 for owners Christina and Nancy Takter and Black Horse Racing, Crawford Farms Racing and Bender Sweden. He paid $2.28 to win.

KARL REPLAY

Dame Good Time (Chapter Seven) delivered as the 6-5 favorite in the first division with a 1:54.2 steamroll victory.

Driver Scott Zeron settled into third with Dame Good Time while Bargain took the field by a :29.4 first quarter over pocket-sitter Situationship. Situationship grew antsy from second and barreled to the lead before a :57.3 half while opening a three-length advantage to the far turn.

Coasting by three-quarters in 1:25.3, Situationship appeared strong into the lane while Zeron gave Dame Good Time his cue to trot. Under minimal urging, Dame Good Time drew nearer and nearer to a leg-weary Situationship and slid by with ease in the final strides to win by three-quarters lengths with 58-1 Flight Landing another three lengths behind in third and Greenspan closing from last for fourth.

“He’s been a little tricky from the get-go,” Scott Zeron said. “They’ve been making changes with his shoes and bits in his mouth. He’s always had the talent; he just couldn’t put it all together. He’s found his stride in his last couple. The fractions were certainly honest, and I was happy where I was. Down the lane, my horse performed like I thought he could.”

The gelding broke his maiden with the victory, coming in his fifth start over the track. Despite being a maiden coming into Thursday, Dame Good Time padded his bankroll to $147,810 for owner-breeder John Cummins. Robert Bath trains the $4.54 winner.

DAME GOOD TIME REPLAY

Odds-on favorite Sig Sauer trotted to the lead in midstretch of the second division before going off stride for the first time in his career, which opened the path for Pick Pocket (Walner) to burst through and land a 17-1 upset in 1:54.2.

Driver Anthony MacDonald planted Pick Pocket on the point from post 8 to a :28.4 first quarter before yielding command to Magic Hill towards a :57.2 half. Sig Sauer raced unhurried from fifth until committing first over to the final turn, where he motored to match strides with the leader by three-quarters in 1:26.1.

Sig Sauer strolled into the stretch on an easy lead but took a bad step and lost stride down the center of the track at the eighth pole. Pick Pocket circumvented a tiring Magic Hill and charged through the inside to grab the lead late while Bryant Bros S mounted a rally down the center but came three-quarter lengths short of victory. Thinker Monkey took third and Magic Hill held fourth.

“He’s been good from day one,” Anthony MacDonald said. “He was one of our better trainers. We had him at Oak Grove and had an opportunity to send him back to New Jersey, but I said, ‘You know what, we’ll just leave him down in the state.’ We turned him out at Kentuckiana for a week and brought him here. Eric [Patalan] and his wife have done just a tremendous job with this horse.”

Pick Pocket has now won three times from nine starts and accrued $121,460 for owners Thestable Pick Pocket Group and Hutchison Harness LLC.

PICK POCKET REPLAY

Mars Hill (Muscle Hill) pounced off a pocket ride to a 1:54.2 win in the third Bluegrass division. Driver Todd McCarthy moved the colt for the lead through a :28.1 first quarter and cleared control from Robinhood into the backstretch. He then yielded to a headstrong Loxahatchee to a :56.1 half before creeping around that tired leader by three-quarters in 1:26. McCarthy kept Mars Hill to task through the lane as he crossed the beam 1-1/4 lengths better than a fast-charging Ordained in second. Mr Bluebird took third and Robinhood finished fourth.

“He was great up in Canada there and last start he made a little hiccup at Hoosier unfortunately, but he came back and showed his best here today,” Todd McCarthy said.

Tony Alagna trains Mars Hill, a homebred for Willow Oak Ranch who has now won four times from seven starts and earned $189,340. He paid $4.54 to win.

MARS HILL REPLAY

Jim Campbell trainee Smart Schooner followed in his mom’s footsteps and motored to a 1:53.2 victory in the fourth division going nearly gate to wire.

Nursed by Tim Tetrick through the first turn, Smart Schooner, a gelded son of Greenshoe from world champion Cooler Schooner, ventured forward through a :29 first quarter before insisting on leading the pack up the backstretch. Tetrick let the gelding go and pocketed Wild Ticket before a :57.1 half while remaining authoritative at the helm through the final turn.

By three-quarters in 1:26, Smart Schooner spun for home on an open lead he maintained with ease. Smart Schooner hit the finish 2-1/2 lengths better than 7-5 favorite Winter Soldier, who just nipped second from Wild Ticket. First-time starter Daiquiri Hanover finished fourth.

“I was holding my breath the first half because he’s a little tough to get off the gate,” Tim Tetrick said. “But once he got there, he’s a really talented colt when keeping his mind on his game.”

The rebound win for Smart Schooner was the third of his career from six starts and came after three straight pari-mutuel outings where he failed to stay flat. Bred and owned by Fashion Farms LLC, he has now earned $69,914 and paid $8.74 to win.

SMART SCHOONER REPLAY

Three of the five divisions for the Bluegrass 2-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot were named “The Captain Corey” and sponsored by the Captain Corey Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farms. The other two divisions were named “The Father Patrick” and presented by Al Libfeld Equine.

Racing resumes at The Red Mile on Friday (Sept. 28) with nine total divisions of Bluegrass Stakes – four for the $348,000 Bluegrass 2-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Pace and five for the $429,000 Norman Woolworth Memorial Bluegrass Stakes for 2-year-old trotting fillies.

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