Papi Grad aiming for rebound in Bluegrass Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky.— After having her unbeaten record snapped one month ago and thrice a runner-up since, Papi Grad (Papi Rob Hanover) will head to The Red Mile as the 3-2 morning line choice in the second of four $77,500 harness racing divisions of the Bluegrass Stakes, for 2-year-old pacing fillies, on Thursday afternoon (Sep 26).

Papi Grad lands post 6 inside the second division, a seven-filly contest which includes Kentucky Championship Series runner-up Looksgoodinloulou from post 7 and Kentucky Golden Rod champion Faze from post 5. Dexter Dunn acquires the drive on Papi Grad for trainer Steve Carter. She began her career undefeated in five starts before being handed back-to-back losses by Rose and more recently getting caught at the end of a 1:51.4 mile in the Standardbred at Delaware, Ohio by Odds On Hialeah.

Division one of the 2-Year-Old Filly Pace, which opens the Thursday card, will show whether Rodeo Drive Deo (Captaintreacherous) can build off a fast-closing second-place finish in the $150,000 New Jersey Classic Final on Sept. 6. David Miller drives the Ron Burke-trained filly who ripped off cover with a :25.4 final quarter to miss the win by 1-1/4 lengths. She starts as the 8-5 morning line favorite in a seven-horse field.

Miki And Minnie (Always B Miki), winner of the $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series final for 2-year-old pacing fillies, fronts the third division of the 2-Year-Old Filly Pace off her tight 1:49.4 win two weeks ago. Dexter Dunn teams with trainer Chris Ryder on this Always B Miki filly, listed at 6-5 on the morning line, as she competes from post 4 against a group that includes Sammy Jo Hanover, who powered to a 1:51.2 victory in the $185,000 Kentuckiana at Harrah’s Hoosier Park one week ago. Tim Tetrick steers that rival, a daughter of Captaintreacherous, out of post 3 for conditioner Scott Di Domenico.

The final division of the 2-Year-Old Filly Pace features Red Mile royalty in Chris Ryder pupil Flossy Hill – a daughter of 2020 Tattersalls champion Tall Dark Stranger out of Party Girl Hill, who beat the boys that same year in the other division of the Tattersalls to maintain her unbeaten record. Andy McCarthy picks up the drive on the Tom Hill homebred, listed at 8-1 on the morning line, off a runner-up effort to Faze in the $50,000 Kentucky Golden Rod final. Her competition includes morning-line favorite and stout closer Unreasonable from post 3 with Scott Zeron driving for Erv Miller and “Nifty” Norman upstart Beyonsay Yankee with Tim Tetrick from post 6 – as she forays into Grand Circuit company – among four other foes in the seven-filly contest.

Thursday’s Red Mile card also includes five divisions of Bluegrass Stakes for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings, starting in Race 2. The $77,300 first division, named “The Captain Corey”, includes a precocious Lucas Wallin trainee in The Rogue Prince, a Walner colt out of champion mare Check Me Out. Tim Tetrick stays in the bike on the slight morning-line choice as he dives into his first stakes affair following a 1:56.4 romp by 10-3/4 lengths over the Lexington track two weeks ago. He encounters a group that includes Stallion Series champ Hey Porter from post 6, Kentucky Championship third-place finisher Chat Room from post 7 and William Wellwood elimination winner Tactical Dynasty from post 8.

Kentucky Championship Series winner Super Chapter leads the second Bluegrass division for trotting colts and geldings. Dexter Dunn pilots the Marcus Melander-trained colt by Chapter Seven, out of 2014 Hambletonian Oaks winner Lifetime Pursuit, from post 7 off a 1:52.1 win – with a :26.2 final quarter – by 4-1/4 lengths in the Championship Series. He faces another Lucas Wallin pupil diving deep from post 8 in Maximus Mearas S, who is unbeaten from two starts and a daughter of Chapter Seven from stakes-winning mare Darling Mearas S. Blue Cartier, who swept the Kentucky Golden Rod Series with a 1:55.4 win in the final, also competes in this division from post 2 with David Miller in the bike for trainer Tony Alagna.

Netherlands bred Portobarosso As NL (Bar Hopping) starts as the 6-5 morning-line choice in the third trotting colt split. The Julie Miller-trained colt leaves from post 5 with Andy Miller in the bike off a fourth-place effort in the $252,000 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes final on Sept. 5 at The Meadows. He flanks Jim Campbell pupil Mr Walner Fashion, who is out of speedy Red Mile winner Cooler Schooner and is still trying to break his maiden, inside the eight-horse affair.

Carter Pinske trainee Go Dog Go (Greenshoe), runner-up in the $400,000 Kentucky Championship final, leads the fourth Bluegrass division for 2-year-old trotting colts. Todd McCarthy steers the 3-2 morning line favorite from the pylon post as he tries to add a third victory onto his card; each of his wins came over The Red Mile, one on debut in the Kentucky Commonwealth Series and the other in the Kentucky Championship Series. The eight-horse field also lures the Julie Miller-trained Walner colt Flightline, who starts from post 6 off a 1:54.4 win in the $100,000 New Jersey Classic consolation, and Monserrate, an Andrew Harris trainee who starts from post 8 off a second-place 1:54.3 effort in the $100,000 Madison County at Harrah’s Hoosier Park a week ago.

The closing Bluegrass division places Ron Burke trainee and 9-5 morning line favorite Hidalgo (Muscle Hill) from the outermost post in the octet. He ships south off a second-place finish to Mohawk Million winner Maryland in the $390,000 Peter Haughton Memorial back on Sept. 13 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Yannick Gingras stays in the bike as the $600,000 Harrisburg Yearling Sale purchase looks for his first visit to the winner’s circle since taking a New Jersey Classic elimination in 1:54.3 on Aug. 30.

Divisions one and two of the Bluegrass for 2-year-old pacing fillies go as “The Beach Glass” and are sponsored by the Beach Glass Syndicate and Winbak Farm. The other two divisions race as “The Perfect Sting” and are sponsored by Brittany Farms.

The first two Bluegrass divisions for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings go as “The Captain Corey” and are sponsored by the Captain Corey Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farms. Division three races as “The Father Patrick” sponsored by Al Libfeld Equine, division four goes as “The Muscle Mass” sponsored by Kentuckiana Farms and the final division is named “The What The Hill” sponsored by Harness Racing Update.

Thursday’s card, a 12-race program, opens the 2024 Grand Circuit meet at The Red Mile. The Grand Circuit meet has six total race days all leading to a stakes-packed closing day on Sunday, Oct. 6 and the headlining $475,000 (est.) Kentucky Futurity.

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

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

by Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile