Oak Grove: Unreasonable overwhelms rivals in Kentucky Sire Stakes

Sent off as the 1-5 favorite, Unreasonable journeyed first-up on the rim and easily ground down her competition to post the top mile of the afternoon's Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) events in winning her division for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Tuesday (July 8) at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel.

Driver Marcus Miller landed in fourth out of post three with Unreasonable as Duration (driven by Scott Zeron) ripped from the outermost post to the lead into a 26 1/5 first quarter. Duration continued on the muscle to a 54 3/5 half, where Miller readied Unreasonable for a move off the pylons approaching the backstretch. Unreasonable marched forward under wraps and zipped past Duration through three-quarters in 1:23 to then scoot away in the lane and win by 2 3/4 lengths in 1:52. Treacheryinthedark (Todd McCarthy) followed the winner's move from second-over for second while Accede (Yannick Gingras) tipped out of a pocket ride to grab third and Baret (Andy McCarthy) closed for fourth.

A daughter of Huntsville, Unreasonable collected her fifth win from 14 starts and has now earned $210,582 for owners Ervin Miller Stable Inc. and David J. Miller. She paid $2.46 to win.

Driver Geremy Bobbitt scored the biggest win of his young career when Rod Debeck pupil Captain Arturovico scored a 16-1 upset in the fastest division of KYSS for 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings. Bobbitt found a second-over ride after 3-5 favorite Ayeaye Captain Deo (Todd McCarthy) cut early fractions of 27 3/5 and 55 4/5. Falcon (Marcus Miller) pressed first-up on the rim and matched strides with Ayeaye Captain Deo through three-quarters in 1:25 1/5 while Bobbitt loomed three-wide for the stretch drive. Captain Arturovico built momentum in the stretch as Falcon jumped into a gallop, and he surged forward to collar Ayeaye Captain Deo by a head in the closing strides of a 1:53 mile. Bourbon County (Dexter Dunn) finished third and Handsome Stranger (Andy McCarthy) closed for fourth.

Captain Arturovico, a gelding by Captaintreacherous, has now won seven times from 10 starts this season and eight times from 19 starts in his career, earning $76,509 for owner Rod Debeck. He paid $34.60 to win.

Grande Via (Yannick Gingras) blitzed 6-5 leader Te Quiero Lindy (Andy Miller) at an opportune point of the final turn to bag a wrapped-up win in the quickest mile of the three KYSS divisions for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings. Gingras secured the pocket to Te Quiero Lindy, who carved a tempo of 27 3/5, 57 1/5 and 1:25 3/5 while unfettered on the point. As Miller gave his charge a few taps of the whip to the final turn, Gingras fanned off the pegs and slid forward to put a head in front spinning for home. Grande Via held his advantage over Te Quiero Lindy in the sprint to the finish to cross the beam a half-length better in a 1:54 3/5 mile, while Sky Legacy (Dexter Dunn) took third and Beaujolais Breeze (David Miller) finished fourth.

Andrew Harris trains Grande Via, a colt by Muscle Hill, and shares ownership with William Pollock and Bruce Areman. He broke his maiden with the victory, his 16th outing in the career, and paid $21.76 to win.

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Admiring (David Miller) put her rivals to sleep with a pillar-to-post win in the faster of the two KYSS division for 3-year-old trotting fillies. Despite starting from post seven, Miller crossed over to the lead just entering the first turn and posted fractions of 27 2/5, 56 2/5 and 1:25 1/5 in progress to a widening victory by four lengths. Belmont (Dexter Dunn) gave futile chase from a pocket trip in second but did just hold off late-charging 1-2 favorite Ms Prada (Yannick Gingras), who took third. Get It All (Mattias Melander) finished another four lengths behind in fourth.

Richard "Nifty" Norman trains Admiring, a filly by Walner, for owners Tony Holmes and June Zent. She won her fourth race from 19 starts, has now earned $108,650 and paid $15.72 to win.

Racing continues at Oak Grove on Sunday (July 13) for closing week of the 2025 meet. Monday's (July 14) card will feature the eight finals of KYSS for 2- and 3-year-olds of both gaits and sexes, with total purses for that day close to $1 million. First-race post time at Oak Grove is 1:25 p.m. (CDT).

--press release (Oak Grove)--