Red Mile: Karl dazzles again in Bluegrass blowout

A five-pack of Bluegrass battles for 2-year-old colt and gelding trotters took place on Thursday afternoon's program at The Red Mile.

Karl (Yannick Gingras) was the day's headliner coming in, and he didn't disappoint, winning the $80,620 finale in 1:51 2/5, just missing the world record by a fifth of a second. Hankins Hanover (David Miller) led at the 27 3/5 quarter and 56 2/5 half, but Karl, who had pulled from fourth in the second quarter, was challenging Hankins Hanover at the half and cleared him after that point. From there it was all Karl as he sailed through three-quarters in 1:24 and wasn't asked through the 27 2/5 final panel, winning in-hand by two lengths over Hankins Hanover and a closing Southwind Metric (Ake Svanstedt).

"He's really funny. He's jumping around, he's feeling good," offered Hall of Famer Jimmy Takter, father of winning trainer Nancy Takter. "He made two breaks on me in the warm-up, and I said 'Nancy, what the heck is this?' He always does that. He doesn't pay attention, and things like that, but Yannick said as soon as he got up behind the gate, he took the bit. He never took the bit from me warming up. I sat behind this horse first time in April when I came up from Florida and I said this horse is a very special guy. He's unbelievable. Yannick said he couldn't believe it. He said if he would've have asked him, he would have trotted under 1:50 today.

"Most likely we will (race him next week). Of course the Breeders Crown is the main goal, and I think after that we'll pack him up for the season."

Nancy Takter also co-owns Karl, a Tactical Landing colt, with her mother Christina and their partners Black Horse Racing, breeder Crawford Farms and Bender Sweden Inc. He has earned $330,310 to go with his perfect five-for-five mark and returned $2.28 to win as the 1-9 favorite.

In the opening $80,620 flight, Bargain (Gingras) got to the quarter first in just 29 4/5, but Svanstedt wheeled Situationship out of the pocket past that marker and took command racing to the 57 3/5 half. Situationship opened up a gap on the others en route to the 1:25 3/5 three-quarters and into the lane, but Scott Zeron swung 6-5 favorite Dame Good Time to the outside late on the final bend, and he was able to chase down Situationship in deep stretch to prevail by a three-quarters of a length in 1:54 2/5. Flight Landing (Andy McCarthy) grabbed third.

"The fractions were certainly honest, and I was happy where I was situationally," said Zeron. "Down the lane my horse performed like I thought he could."

The runner-up in the Kentucky Championship Series final, Dame Good Time is trained by Robert Bath for owner/breeder John Cummins. Dame Good Time broke his maiden in his fifth chance, has banked $147,810 and paid $4.54 to win.

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17-1 shot Pick Pocket (Anthony MacDonald) carved out the 28 4/5 opening quarter in the next $81,620 division, then yielded to Magic Hill (Gingras), who got to the half in 57 2/5 and the three-quarters in 1:26 1/5. Race favorite Sig Sauer (A. McCarthy), who had gone first-over out of fifth past the half, advanced quickly and stormed into the top spot beyond three-quarters, but he would break nearing the eighth pole. Taking advantage was Pick Pocket, who angled out to find room and then held off a rallying Bryant Bros S (Svanstedt) by three-quarters of a length in 1:54 2/5. Thinker Monkey (Brian Sears) checked in third.

"He was one of our better trainers, and we had him at Oak Grove. We had an opportunity to send him back to New Jersey, and I said 'You know what? We'll just leave him down in this state,'" MacDonald offered. "We turned him out at Kentuckiana for a week and brought him here. Eric (winning trainer Eric Patalan) and his wife have done just a tremendous job with this horse."

A Walner colt, Pick Pocket is owned by Thestable Pick Pocket Group and Hutchison Harness LLC. He has a summary of 3-3-1 from nine efforts, has put away $121,460 and returned $36.94 to win.

William Wellwood Memorial runner-up Mars Hill (Todd McCarthy) rebounded after making a break in the Peter Haughton Memorial to take the third $81,620 tilt in 1:54 2/5. He took the top spot away from Robinhood (Niko Karna) after the 28 1/5 quarter and would then be overtaken by a two-wide Loxahatchee (Sears) approaching the 56 1/5. With Mr Bluebird (Svanstedt) moving first-over from fourth on the last turn, McCarthy elected to pull in front of him and trotted up to take the lead away from Loxahatchee past the 1:26 1/5 three-quarters. From there, Mars Hill kicked clear to win by a wrapped-up length and a quarter, with Ordained (Zeron) rallying nicely while widest from last to get second. Mr Bluebird was third.

"He was great up in Canada. His last start, he made a little hiccup at Hoosier, unfortunately, but he came back and showed his best today," McCarthy remarked. "He was very impressive today, I think."

Tony Alagna trains Mars Hill, a Muscle Hill colt, for owner/breeder Willow Oak Ranch. He has four wins and a second in seven tries, sent his earnings to $189,340 and paid $4.54 to win as the 6-5 favorite.

Smart Schooner (Tim Tetrick) grabbed the fourth $80,620 split in 1:53 2/5. Wild Ticket (Sears) inherited the lead at the 29 second opening quarter as a two-wide Alamo Mission (Dexter Dunn) broke stride, but Tetrick angled out of the pocket to hit the front beyond that station. A 57 1/5 half and a 1:26 three-quarters followed from Smart Schooner, and closed nicely in 27 2/5 to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Winter Soldier (A. McCarthy) got up from second-over for runner-up honors and Wild Ticket ended up third.

"It was just kind of hold my breath the first-half because he's a little tough to get out of the gate, but once he got there, he's a really, really talented colt," Tetrick explained. "It's just keeping his mind on his game."

Fashion Farms bred and owns the Jim Campbell-trained Smart Schooner, a colt from the first crop of Greenshoe. He made his third appearance in the winner's circle, has pocketed $69,914 and returned $8.74 to win.