$3.4 million in purses for Kentucky Championships Sunday

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY – SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 – The Red Mile will host the Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Finals on Sunday, September 17 with $3.4 million in harness racing purses up for grabs with eight $400,000 championship finals heading the 10-race extravaganza.

A pair of $100,000 Finals of the Kentucky Commonwealth Series will provide the bookends for the historic Sunday program.

In celebration of this prestigious event, famed thoroughbred announcer Pete Aiello will be at The Red Mile along with one of harness racing’s most knowledgable historians, Bob “Hollywood” Heyden.

Known for his accuracy, enthusiasm and excitement, Aiello is no stranger to the standardbred sport and sealed his star status in harness racing by upending Gabe Prewitt in what was deemed the “Match Race of the Century” at Pompano Park raising over $50,000 for aftercare for retired standardbred horses.

“Hollywood” Hayden has come to be known as one of the finest handicappers, commentators and historians in all of sport, solidified by his induction to the Communicators Hall of Fame in 2013.

The Sunday program will feature a grand buffet of wagering options, including a unique 20 cent Pick-8 (races two through nine) with a guaranteed pool of $10,000 coupled with a low 15% takeout.

There will also be a Pick-4 beginning in race six with a $10,000 guaranteed pool highlighted by an industry low 12% takeout.

Other exotic wagering options include a 20 cent Pick-6 beginning in the first race (15% takeout), a 50 cent Pick-5 beginning with race four (12% takeout), and a pair of 20 cent Super Hi-5 events (15% takeout) offered on races five and 10.

Among the champions racing in Sunday are the undefeated two-year-old pacing filly Geocentric (Sweet Lou), the million dollar winning three-year-old pacing filly Twin B Joe Fresh (Roll With Joe), the undefeated two-year-old trotting colt Karl (Tactical Landing), the Hambletonian winner Tactical Approach (Tactical Landing), the three-year-old trotting filly Special Way, undefeated this season in four starts, and the fastest pacer in 2023 thus far Confederate (Sweet Lou), the three-year-old pacer who won his last start over The Red Mile in 1:46.1.

Post time for the Sunday Championship program is 1:00 p.m. and free program pages are available on the website redmileracing.com.

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

by John Berry, for The Red Mile