Red Mile: Fast 2-year-old colts compete in International Stallion Stakes

The two fastest 2-year-olds of 2016 will be at the Red Mile on Saturday afternoon for three divisions of the Captaintreacherous International Stallion Stakes on a strong 10-race card. Huntsville and Downbytheseaside will look to pad their bankrolls and use this final start in Lexington as a springboard for the Breeders Crown eliminations at The Meadowlands on Saturday, October 22.

After winning just once in four starts, Huntsville has gone on a roll, picking up three consecutive wins including a Bluegrass score at the Red Mile last week. The Ray Schnittker-trained son of Somebeachsomewhere-Wild West Show has earned over $260K and paced a career best 1:50 mile at The Meadows on August 27.

“He trained vicious today, so I’m expecting him to be really good,” said Schnittker on Wednesday night. “Timmy (Tetrick) actually said after the last race, and most Somebeachsomewhere’s come into speed really quick, that ‘he’s getting better every week,’ so that is a good sign.”

Huntsville will start from post six with Tetrick back in the bike against a strong group that includes Fear The Dragon (post five) and fellow Bluegrass winner from last week, Rock The Boat (post two). Downbytheseaside, who will leave from post seven in the final race on the card, also sports a 1:50 winning mile. He posted that eye-catching performance at the Delaware County Fairgrounds on September 18.

“I wasn’t expecting him to go that fast,” said trainer Brian Brown, who hinted that some equipment changes may be in the works to calm his colt down a bit.

While Huntsville has some stiff competition, Downbytheseaside seems destined to be a heavy favorite come post time with David Miller at the controls.

Just one tick off the aforementioned 1:50 speedsters is race two starter Ocean Colony. The Jimmy Takter trainee with a 1:50 1/5 career best mile will look to end a three-race losing streak versus what appears to be the softest of the three divisions.

Ocean Colony will start from post six with Yannick Gingras in the bike.

The Red Mile program, which kicks off at 1 p.m., has eight International Stallion Stakes including splits for 2-year-old filly pacers and 3-year-old colts.