Red Mile: Brandon Blvd scores in Kentucky Championship Series

Meadowlands Pace champion Brandon Blvd held himself firmly atop the 3-year-old pacing colt and gelding division when shipping to town and scoring a 1:48 victory in the $80,000 final leg of the Kentucky Championship Series for his cohort on Tuesday (Sept. 8) at The Red Mile.

Leaving from post three, driver Dexter Dunn sent Brandon Blvd for the lead to a 26 3/5 first quarter and cleared Funky Buddha (driven by Tim Tetrick) with pylon-starter Sea Bistro Hanover shuffled to third. Brandon Blvd strode unfazed up the backstretch to a 54 2/5 half and continued to cruise through the last turn while Ubrute (Yannick Gingras) attempted to gain ground with a first-over bid. Funky Buddha gradually peeled from the pocket to attack Brandon Blvd to three-quarters in 1:22 1/5 but levelled off as the Andrew Harris trainee sprinted for home. Sea Bistro Hanover pushed up the inside and kept digging into Brandon Blvd through the tight seam in the final eighth, but Brandon Blvd fended him off for a half-length win. Ubrute gave chase in third and Funky Buddha settled for fourth.

A Downbytheseaside-Alexis Faith colt, Brandon Blvd collected his seventh win from 10 starts this season and his 14th victory from 20 starts in his career, amassing $1,325,092 for owner Punisher 11 Stable LLC. He paid $2.88 to win.

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

Toby Ornot Toby (Tim Tetrick) vaulted from a second-over trip off fast fractions to clinch the lone $30,000 Kentucky Commonwealth Series dash for pacing glamour boys in a 1:49 mile. Parked the mile, Tetrick perched onto cover from Downbythelakeside (David Miller) to a 53 3/5 half cut by 6-5 favorite Door Dash (Andy McCarthy), who retreated after clocking three-quarters in 1:21. Toby Ornot Toby then stormed to the lead while holding off rallying Thiago Hanover (Yannick Gingras) by a neck. Scott Di Domenico trains the victorious Tall Dark Stranger-Mackie Hanover gelding for owners Oompa's Farm Inc. and Joseph Barbera. He paid $12.58 to win.

A trio of $15,000 Kentucky Golden Rod Series divisions also went postward on Tuesday for the 3-year-old pacing males. L B I (Andy McCarthy, 1:49 2/5 winning mile; $9.06) took top honors with the quickest win of the three divisions after pouncing from the pocket to win by 1 1/4 lengths over pace-setter Stingman (Yannick Gingras). Gunmetal (Todd McCarthy, 1:50 1/5; $6.82) and Be Sting (Andy McCarthy, 1:50 1/5; $3.54) took the other divisions.

Live harness racing at The Red Mile resumes on Wednesday (Sept. 9) with a 10-race card headlined by the $80,000 Kentucky Championship Series fourth preliminary for 3-year-old trotting fillies, a race that features Hambletonian Oaks champ Nezuko Kamado S. First-race post time is 1 p.m. (EDT).

For more information on the 2026 live harness racing season, visit The Red Mile website (https://www.redmileracing.com).

--press release (Red Mile)--