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Track announcer Gabe Prewitt said that harness racing driver Scott Zeron “must have ice water running through his veins” as he guided Tactical Approach (Tactical Landing) along the pylons, squeezing by horses to win the $450,000 131st Kentucky Futurity for three-year-old trotters Sunday (Oct. 8) afternoon at The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky.
It was the second jewel of the trotting Triple Crown won by Tactical Approach who in early August captured the $1 million Hambletonian Trot in similar fashion. Tactical Approach did not compete in the first jewel of the Triple Crown, the Yonkers Trot.
The 15th and final race of The Red Mile meet saw Tactical Approach and Zeron leave from post six and work their way up to that the lead, but that was short lived as Kilmister (Brian Sears) came up and took the lead by the opening quarter mile in :27.2.
Then it was Air Power (Mattias Melander) flying on the outside first-over with Oh Well (Tim Tetrick) second-over by the half mile marker in :55.1. With all these lead changes, Tactical Approach was getting shuffled back to fourth place on the rail and then Air Power went off-stride, allowing Oh Well to come up and take the lead away from Kilmister. Meanwhile, Andy Miller had come up second-over with French Wine by the three-quarters in 1:23.4 and then was first-over and closing.
As they started down the stretch, French Wine and Miller collared Oh Well and took command, but then coming along the pylons was Tactical Approach and Zeron, passing horses by like they did in the Hambletonian and coming on in the final strides to beat French Wine by a neck in 1:52. Celebrity Bambino (Yannick Gingras) was third.
TACTICAL APPROACH REPLAY
With the victory, Tactical Approach went over the $1 million mark in career earnings. It was his eighth win of the season for trainer Nancy Takter. An $85,000 yearling purchase at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, Tactical Approach is co-owned by Robert Leblanc, John Fielding, Joe Sbrocco and JAF Racing. He paid $3.44 to win.
For complete race results, click here: US Trotting Results
by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink
