The three-year-olds take the stage on Sunday (Sept. 30) at The Red Mile with filly trotters competing in three divisions of the $206,000 Cantab Hall Bluegrass Stakes, colt trotters contesting in two divisions of the $242,000 Explosive Matter Bluegrass Stakes and colt pacers going in two divisions of the $183,000 Somebeachsomewhere Bluegrass Stakes.
Trond Smedshammer’s star filly Phaetosive starts in the third division of the Cantab Hall. Competing for the Purple Haze Stables LLC, the daughter of Explosive Matter has hit the board in all eight of her starts this season, victorious in six, and winning 10 of 15 starts overall. Runner-up to Manchego in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks, Phaetosive’s resume also includes wins in the $128,500 Del Miller Memorial, $253,000 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes Championship and, her most recent victory, in the $340,000 Elegantimage beating both Manchego and Atlanta in 1:52.2. Smedshammer pilots his training pupil from post two.
Supergirl Riley, who upset world champion Plunge Blue Chip in the $180,000 Zweig Filly Trot at Vernon Downs, fronts the first grouping of the Cantab Hall from post two with Marcus Miller driving. The Erv Miller-trained daughter of Muscle Mass enters off wins in the $50,000 Kentucky Sires Stakes (KYSS) consolation and the $40,000 New York Sires Stakes (NYSS) consolation. A winner of four races from 13 starts this year and eight from 22 overall, she has accrued $341,263 in earnings for owners Paymaq Racing, George Golemes and Harvey Eisman.
John Butenschoen trainee Nixie Volo, driven by Corey Callahan, enters the second division of the Cantab Hall off a 1:51.2 victory in the $250,000 KYSS final. The daughter of Yankee Glide, winning four races in 12 starts this year and seven from 20 overall, has collected $286,786 in earnings for owners Kentuckiana Racing Stable, VIP Internet Stable, 83 Racing and Eddie Gran.
Mets Hall, nearing $1 million in career earnings, starts from post seven with Andy Miller driving in the first division of the Explosive Matter. The Julie Miller-trained son of Cantab Hall has hit peak form in recent months with a second-place finish in the $1,000,000 Hambletonian, a 1:52 lifetime-best victory in the $350,000 Zweig Memorial, a three-length score in the $130,271 Simcoe Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park and, more recently, a second-place effort in the $665,000 Canadian Trotting Classic. Owned by Story Inc. and Andy Miller Stable Inc., Mets Hall is a winner of eight races from 19 starts has compiled $958,124 in earnings.
Trainer Jimmy Takter sends three trotters in the second division of the Explosive Matter: Wolfgang (from post two), Tactical Landing (post three) and Zephyr Kronos (post eight).
Wolfgang, competing for Brixton Medical, Goran Falk, Hatfield Stables and Fair Island Farm, has earned $598,160 from seven wins in 18 starts which includes the Goodtimes Final at Woodbine Mohawk Park and a $181,000 division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial. Andrew McCarthy picks up the drive off Wolfgang’s fourth-place finish in the $250,000 KYSS final.
Tactical Landing, a colt by Muscle Hill out of Southwind Serena competes from post three with Takter in the bike. Owned by The Tactical Landing Stable, has four wins to his credit from 10 starts, including a lifetime-best 1:51.4 mile in a prelim for the KYSS, and over $250,000 in earnings. His achievements also include a third-place finish in the Hambletonian and a second-place effort in the KYSS final.
A colt by European star Ready Cash, Zephyr Kronos gets Yannick Gingras to drive from post eight. His lone Grand Circuit victory came in the $80,000 Zweig Memorial consolation, timed in 1:52, but also finished third in a division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial and second in a split of the Tompkins-Geers. Off an eighth-place finish in the Canadian Trotting Classic, the winner of five races from 15 starts races has earned just over $100,000 in earnings for owners Al Libfeld, Marvin Katz, Perry Soderberg and Christina Takter.
Millioniare pacer Stay Hungry faces off against stablemate and KYSS champ American History in the opening division of the Somebeachsomewhere. Winning 11 races from 21 starts, Stay Hungry, a Tony Alagna-trained colt by Somebeachsomewhere, enters off an attempt at the Pacing Triple Crown as he won his $102,720 elimination of the Little Brown Jug but, after an inquiry looking at interference and a pylon violation, was placed fourth and scratched from the final. Earning more than $1.24 million for owners Brad Grant and Irwin Samelman Estate, Stay Hungry starts from post two with Doug McNair in the bike.
Yannick Gingras pilots American History from post three. Nearing $500,000 in career earnings, the winner of 10 races in 20 starts swept the KYSS with a 1:48.1 victory in the final. The colt by American Ideal, with $472,285 in earnings, races for owners Brittany Farms LLC, Marvin Katz and American History Racing.
Unraced as a two-year-old, Thinkbig Dreambig fronts the final division of the Somebeachsomewhere off a second-place finish in the KYSS final. The Jimmy Takter-trained son of Bettors Delight, who won the $400,000 Carl Milstein Memorial at Northfield Park in 1:50, has five wins from 14 starts and $404,537 in earnings for owners Brixton Medical Inc., John Fielding, Goran Anderberg and Goran Falk. Yannick Gingras grabs the drive and will start from post two.
Hanover Shoe Farms sponsors the Cantab Hall (also sponsored by Brittany Farms), Explosive Matter (also sponsored by the Explosive Matter Syndicate) and Somebeachsomewhere (also sponsored by the Somebeachsomewhere Syndicate) Bluegrass Stakes.
The 12-race program is the first of the Grand Circuit meeting’s matinee cards, with first-race post Sunday, as well as for the following week, slated for 1:00 p.m. (EDT).
(with files from The Red Mile)