posted on 9/11/2012 11:26 am
The 2012 Kentucky Sire
Stakes (KYSS) season wrapped up Sunday night (Sept. 9) at The Red Mile with
eight $250,000 finals for 2 and 3 year olds of both gaits featured on the card.
Two sophomores were able to defend their championships, including the 3-year-old
filly trotter Northern Miss Hall and the 3-year-old colt pacer Bolt The Duer.
The marquee match-up of the
night was the 3-Year-Old Colt Pace where Adios winner Bolt The Duer and North
America Cup winner Thinking Out Loud squared off for the first time in KYSS
action this year. The race lived to its billing as Bolt The Duer won in a KYSS
record 1:48.2, rushing past Thinking Out Loud in midstretch for the victory.
Mark MacDonald had Bolt The
Duer on the lead early from post two but Randy Waples had the front end on his
mind as he had Thinking Out Loud moving forward from post seven. Bolt The Duer
reached the quarter in :26.3 but then MacDonald willingly yielded the front to
Waples and Thinking Out Loud, who then took the field to a :53 half and 1:21.2
three-quarters.
At the top of the stretch
MacDonald angled Bolt The Duer off the pylons and with a final quarter of :26.4
easily went past Thinking Out Loud to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Caviart Key and
driver Tyler Smith tracked the two race favorites from the onset and settled
for third.
"My horse will follow
speed all day long so I was in a good spot," MacDonald said afterward of
yielding the front to Thinking Out Loud. "I think if the roles were
reversed Thinking Out Loud probably could have popped off my back, but it was
me in the two hole."
The win was the fourth
straight for Bolt The Duer, a son of Ponder bred by Peninsula Farm and owned by
John Como Sr. and John Como Jr.'s All Star Racing Inc. of Towaco, N.J.
Trained by Pete Foley, Bolt The Duer increased his career earnings to $897,401.
Just as Bolt The Duer swept
his way through the KYSS series, Northern Miss Hall did the same in the
3-Year-Old Filly Trot. With Dan Noble driving for trainer Johnson Hill Jr. and
breeder-owner Northern Lane Farm of Grabill,
Ind., Northern Miss Hall was a 3
1/2-length winner over runner-up Feel The Pressure and Peter Wrenn in 1:55.
A daughter of Like A Prayer,
Northern Miss Hall notched win number five this year and 10th overall in 16
career starts. The win brought her career earnings to $330,020.
Shawnee Dancer, an entry
into trainer Ron Burke's barn following her win in the opening round of KYSS
late last month, strolled to a 3 1/4-length win in 1:53 for driver Brian Sears
in the 3-Year-Old Filly Pace. Miss Lucy O was second for Dan Shetler, with Park Lane Crystal
and Ron Pierce third.
Bred by Henry and Judy
Lunsford, Shawnee Dancer was raced by the Lunsfords until being sold to Burke
Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and Howard Taylor after she won her first
KYSS leg in 1:52.4. She followed that up with a second-leg victory before
completing the sweep on Sunday.
A daughter of Jate Lobell,
Shawnee Dancer increased her career earnings to $223,710 with the victory.
Fusion Man, who made a break
in the opening round of KYSS and needed a big effort in the second leg to
qualify for the final--he won in a career-best 1:53-- romped to a 6 1/2-length
win in a new career mark of 1:52.4 in the 3-Year-Old Colt Trot. Tyler Smith
drove the son of Valley Victory for his father, trainer Jeff Smith, and owner
TDTrot LLC of Hallandale Beach, Fla.
Fusion Man avenged last
year's KYSS final when he made a break behind the gate and was never a factor.
On Sunday, Fusion Man easily bested the 2011 winner Prayer Session and driver
Dave Magee, with Enrico As and MacDonald third.
Bred by Mark Knepp and Leroy
Kemp, Fusion Man win was his fifth in seven starts this year, bringing his
career earnings to $197,477.
Tyler and Jeff Smith also
teamed up to win the 2-Year-Old Colt Trot with Mystical Dew, who kept his
perfect record intact in four starts. The son of Deweycheatumnhowe has lowered
his mark with each of his victories, capped off by his 1:55.2 effort on Sunday
that was 2 3/4 lengths better than runner-up Caveat Emptor and Ray Schnittker.
Here's Johnny finished third for Mike Lachance.
Bred by Walnut Hall Stock
Farm, Mystical Dew now has earnings to $142,750.
Peter Wrenn was able to urge
Andie Sophia to a neck win over Simone Hall and Lachance in the 2-Year-Old
Filly Trot. Andie Sophia was eighth at the half before she came rallying late
to catch Simone Hall in the final strides and spoil that one's bid for a KYSS
sweep. Favorite True Day Dream, driven by Dan O'Mara, had her five-race win
streak snapped as she settled for a third-place finish.
Bred by Winbak Farm, the
winning daughter of Like A Prayer earned a new speed badge with her victory,
the second in a brief three-start career. Owned by trainer Rob Harmon's Harmon
Racing Stable, Comfortably Numb Stable and Adam Friedland, Andie Sophia now has
earnings of $136,250.
Just five 2-year-old filly
pacers lined up behind the gate and it was favored Ohmybelle who took home the
$125,000 winner's share of the $250,000 prize.
Trainer Randy Jerrell
directed the daughter of Ponder himself to the 1:56 victory, defeating
runner-up Diligent Prospect and Lachance by 1 3/4 lengths.
Bred by Frank Coleman,
Ohmybelle is owned by Janet Lee Banks. The win was her ninth in 11 starts--the
other two attempts were second-place outings--to bring her earnings to
$162,625.
Duel In The Sun overcame
some jostling in the stretch to post a game 1:52.2 victory in the 2-Year-Old
Colt Pace. Driven by Wrenn, Duel In The Sun came into close quarters with the
Matt Kakaley-driven Blatantly Best a couple of times as they turned for the
stretch drive and then nearing the wire Blatantly Best drifted to his right
toward Duel In The Sun.
Under the wire, Duel In The
Sun had his nose in front of Blatantly Best. Nutmegs Maya and Sears were third.
Trained by John Butenschoen,
Duel In The Sun is a gelded son of Cambest. Bred by Denim Stable, Duel in The
Sun is owned by VIP Internet Stable and William Wiswell. The career-best win
was his fourth in seven starts, bringing his earnings to $174,064.
