Red Mile: Favorites defeated in Bluegrass for 3YO pacing males
All About The Hunt and I Did It Myway defeated public choices Pebble Beach and Beach Glass in their respective Bluegrass Series showdowns for 3-year-old male pacers on Saturday afternoon at The Red Mile.
Racing in the first $89,500 tilt, All About The Hunt (Yannick Gingras), sent off at 13-1, took charge past the 28 2/5 opening quarter, continued on the engine through a 55 2/5 half and a 1:23 three-quarters, and sprinted home in 26 seconds to hold off a gaining Pebble Beach (Todd McCarthy) by a neck in 1:49. Birthday (David Miller) also closed well to get third.
All About The Hunt was bred by Crawford Farms and is owned by them in partnership with Heather Marshall. All About The Hunt, trained by Ron Burke and also unraced as a freshman, has five wins and two seconds from nine efforts, pushed his bankroll to $145,483, and returned $29.52 to win.
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I Did It Myway (Andy McCarthy), the winner in the Kentucky Championship Series final, posted his fifth straight victory in Lexington in the other $88,500 flight.
Beach Glass (Gingras) pulled out of the pocket to take charge after a 26 4/5 opening panel, and Beach Glass kept the pace spicy from there, clicking off a 53 3/5 half and a 1:21 2/5 three-quarters. Gingras called on Beach Glass in the lane, but he would tire, and I Did It Myway, who had a second-over trip behind Mad Max Hanover (Tim Tetrick), was able to out-foot that foe inside the final eighth to win by a neck in 1:48 2/5. Fourever Boy (Dexter Dunn) advanced from sixth to third in the final quarter.
Trained by Tony Alagna, I Did It Myway is a Captaintreacherous colt owned by breeder Joe Sbrocco in partnership with Country Club Acres Inc., Don Latore, and Alagna And Fodera Racing. This was his 12th victory from 22 starts, he has now earned $622,908, and he paid $5.90 to win as the 9-5 second choice.
"He loves a target," Alagna said after the race. "He can do it the other way as well, but he's so much better with a target, and that's why Lexington is so kind to him. Andy [McCarthy] is the best. I love our relationship, the fact that he drives so many horses for us and the fact that he teaches these horses for the long haul. He and I are on the same page on what we're looking for - he knows when its time to go and when its time to educate one. That makes us a good team."
--quote courtesy of Ray Cotolo/The Red Mile--