Jimmy Takter hopes that all Trixton, Yoga and Red Hot Spicy need to know they learned in kindergarten.
More precisely, the Kindergarten Classic Series, which holds its finals for two-year-old male and female trotters on Friday night at Vernon Downs.
Trixton, a colt, and the filly Yoga led their respective classes in points in the five-round series. Trixton won three of the four legs he entered; Yoga captured all four of her starts in the series.
“All of those races are tough,” Takter said. “But, of course, it’s a little bit weaker than if you have to race against horses like (Breeders Crown winner) Father Patrick and the rest of them. This is a good way to get miles in them and races and confidence without fully extending them.”
The $217,500 Kindergarten for the colts features, in post position order, Outburst, Trixton, Sumatra, Southwind Spirit, Odds On Amethyst, Lighting Force, Myolinist, Toss Cartwright and Resolve.
Outburst trotted the fastest mile ever for a two-year-old male (1:53.1) on a mile racetrack when he won a division of the Bluegrass Stakes on Sept. 27 at Lexington’s Red Mile. Southwind Spirit was second and Trixton finished third.
Southwind Spirit was fourth in the Breeders Crown last Saturday at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
Trixton is a son of stallion Muscle Hill out of the mare Emilie Cas El and sold for $360,000 as a yearling under the name Monarch Kemp. Muscle Hill was Horse of the Year in 2009 and Emilie Cas El was Canada’s Horse of the Year in 1994. Trixton’s family also includes past stars Andover Hall, Conway Hall and Angus Hall.
He is owned by Bengt Agerup’s Brixton Medical AB and Christina Takter.
Trixton has won four of seven starts and $53,687 this year and is the 5-2 morning line favourite in the Kindergarten final. He was second by a neck to E L Titan in a division of the International Stallion Stakes on Oct. 4 and won his final preliminary round of the Kindergarten series on Oct. 18 at Vernon Downs with a 1:54.4 mile from post eight.
“I didn’t buy him; the owner (Agerup) bought him himself and I purchased myself into the horse later on,” Takter said. “To me, he was maybe a little bit too big, and that’s what delayed this horse a little bit too. But he’s a smart colt and he’s got tremendous power. The pedigree is very good.
“He’s a big horse with a ton of ability. I think he’s going to be a really top horse.”
The $206,000 Kindergarten for the fillies features, in post position order, Cee Bee Yes, Bikini So Teeny, Rockenonbroadway, Great Gwen, Fashion Huntress, Yoga, Goddess, Red Hot Spicy and Chocolate Crisp.
Cee Bee Yes won the New Jersey Sire Stakes championship and is part of a three-horse entry with Bikini So Teeny and Great Gwen that is the 9-5 morning line favourite.
The entry of Yoga and Red Hot Spicy is 2-1 second choice.
Yoga (Muscles Yankee-Sugarcane Yankee) has won five of seven races and earned $37,750 for owners Christina Takter, John Fielding and Jim Fielding. Her only losses came on Freehold Raceway’s half-mile oval, where she went off stride both times.
“She seems like she wasn’t comfortable either of the starts at Freehold,” Jimmy Takter said. “She’s kind of a little plain filly, but I’ll tell you what, she’s a fighter. She loves to win and every time you ask her she just keeps on digging in. She’s starting to learn how to race well too. In the beginning she was a little bit too grabby, but she is starting to be more comfortable with what she’s doing.
“We didn’t care too much for her early this year. We staked her very light, basically just these kinds of races. It could be a good thing for her. She wasn’t really ready for high speed in the early part of the year.”
Red Hot Spicy (Muscle Hill-What A Way) is winless in eight starts for owner Order By Stable, but was second in a division of the International Stallion Stakes.
“She’s been racing OK,” Takter said. “She doesn’t understand the game yet; she doesn’t know how to dig in yet. She might grow into herself and be a better three-year-old.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.