LEXINGTON, KY--Freshmen filly pacers and trotters will flock to The Red Mile on Friday, Sept. 28 with the trotters contesting in four divisions of the $373,000 Norman Woolworth Memorial Bluegrass Stakes and the pacers in three divisions of the $273,100 Artspeak Bluegrass Stakes.
Evident Beauty, second in the $296,450 Peaceful Way at Woodbine Mohawk Park, leads the first division of filly trotters. The Richard "Nifty" Norman trainee, competing for owners Melvin Hartman, Little E LLC and R A W Equine Inc., has one win to her credit–a 1:58 nose victory in a $28,750 division of the Tompkins Geers at Tioga Downs. Earning $99,832 so far this season, the filly by Trixton will have David Miller in the sulky.
Jim Doherty Memorial winner The Ice Dutchess fronts the second division off a 1:54.2 victory in the Peaceful Way. A filly by Muscle Hill, the Jimmy Takter pupil has four wins in seven outings and nearly $350,000 in earnings. Yannick Gingras will drive from post two for owner Coyote Wynd Farms.
An upset winner in an elimination for the Jim Doherty Memorial, Special Honor, a filly by Father Patrick conditioned by Julie Miller, starts in the third division of filly trots. Owned by Brittany Farms LLC, Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld, she's won two races from six starts and compiled $93,824 in earnings. She enters off a second-place finish in the $236,000 Kentuckiana Stakes from post one at Hoosier Park and will now start from post nine with Andy Miller behind.
Kentucky Sires Stakes (KYSS) champ Whispering Oaks and Pennsylvania Sires Stakes winner Windy Corner face off in the final division of filly trots. Whispering Oaks, a Trixton filly trained by Jimmy Takter for owners Brixton Medical Inc, Herb Liverman and R A W Equine, has won three times in nine outings, including a 1:54 upset victory in the $250,000 KYSS Final, and accrued $224,574 in earnings. Yannick Gingras will drive from post two.
Windy Corner, a Yankee Glide filly trained by Erv Miller for owners Tony Holmes and Walter Zent, enters off a 1:57.4 win in a $32,833 division of the Keystone Classic at The Meadows. A winner of four races from 10 starts, she has earned $192,805 and will have Marcus Miller piloting from post six.
Trainer Brian Brown sends High Reward, who finished third in the $275,000 Ohio Sires Stakes (OHSS) Championship, from post one in the opening division of the filly pace. The daughter of Yankee Cruiser has one win from seven starts–a 1:53.1 wire-to-wire victory in a preliminary of OHSS at Scioto Downs. David Miller will sit in the bike for owners Country Club Acres Inc., Joe Sbrocco and L&H Management Services.
A trio of star freshmen pacing fillies compete in the second division with Queen Of The Pride (the OHSS champ) starting from post one, Zero Tolerance (second in the $207,000 Kentuckiana at Hoosier Park) from post three and Beautyonthebeach (the KYSS champ) from post eight.
A filly by McArdle trained by Kevin Lare, Queen Of The Pride has won five times in nine tries, compiling $262,192 in earnings for owner Frank Chick. She enters off a fourth-place finish in the $454,300 She's A Great Lady at Woodbine Mohawk Park and will have Tony Hall in the bike.
Trained by Joe Holloway, Zero Tolerance, a filly by Heston Blue Chip, has finished no worse than second in all eight of her races and won on six of those occasions, including a track-record-equaling mile of 1:51.3 in a division of New York Sires Stakes at Vernon Downs. Owned by Val D'Or Farms and Ted Gewertz, she has earned $195,941 and will have David Miller drive.
Sweeping the prelims and the final of the KYSS, Gregg McNair-trainee Beautyonthebeach enters on a four-race win streak capped with a 1:51 two-length victory in the $250,000 KYSS final. She has five wins total from her eight outings and $181,343 in earnings. The James Avritt Sr. homebred will have Doug McNair driving.
The McNairs come back in the final division of the filly pace with Prescient Beauty, a homebred Art Major filly for James Avritt Sr. A winner of three races in eight starts and an earner of over $130,000, she ships in off runner-up finishes in the elimination and final of the She's A Great Lady. Doug McNair again drives for father and trainer Gregg McNair.
The divisions of the Norman Woolworth Bluegrass Two-Year-Old Filly Trot are sponsored by Arden Homestead Stable, Et Gerry & Peter Gerry, Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg, Stoner Manor, Inc., Menhammar Stuteri Ab, Jorgen Jahre Jr. and Lawrence DeVan & William DeVan Jr.
The divisions of the Artspeak Bluegrass Two-Year-Old Filly Pace are sponsored by the Artspeak Syndicate and Winbak Farms.
The 10-race program Friday night gets rolling with a first-race post time at 7:00 p.m. (EDT).
By Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile