Rookie and sophomore pacers raced in four $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series finals as part of a stakes-laden Sunday night at The Red Mile, and Louprint, Direction, Miki And Minnie and Better Is Nice went home with top honors from their respective contests. Louprint (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) went first-up from fifth past the 54 1/5 half in the final for 2-year-old colt and gelding pacers, got nose-and-nose with leader American Son (Dexter Dunn) at the 1:22 three-quarters, and then forged his way into the lead in the lane. From there, Louprint went on to defeat pocket-sitter and fellow Ron Burke trainee Sippinonsearoc (Yannick Gingras) by three-quarters of a length in 1:48 4/5. American Son wound up third. "I had the five-hole, and I had to make a decision to leave out of the gate or take back. Luckily they went a decent half. I'm confident in my horse and he really responded," Wrenn Jr. remarked after the race. "Dexter's horse is a really nice horse, and so is Sippinonsearoc. When Dexter made the front, I was a little nervous in the last turn, but my horse really responded. "He's just a pleasure to drive. He's two fingers, and I'm able to take him and race him off-the-pace. I'm really curious to see what he can do when I race him aggressively, but so far so good." Burke trains Louprint, a son of Sweet Lou, for owners/breeders Burke Racing Stable LLC., Weaver Bruscemi LLC. and Phil Collura. Louprint has six victories and a second in seven trips behind the gate, has pocketed $359,864 and paid $2.82 to win. In the final for 3-year-old fillies, Direction (Todd McCarthy) led through panels of 28 2/5, 55 4/5 and 1:23 and held off a surging Geocentric (Tim Tetrick) late to tally by a head in 1:50. Asweetbeachhere (Dunn) was third from the pocket and 2-5 favorite Its A Love Thing (James MacDonald), who was coming off a sick scratch, had to settle for fourth after a first-over attempt out of fourth in the back-half. Brett Pelling trains Direction, a daughter of Always B Miki who was bred by Diamond Creek Farm and is owned by their racing operation. Direction has won 11 of her 16 career starts and has earned $416,796. She returned $9.06 to win. "She's come a long way. As a 2-year-old we always had a bit of trouble gaiting her and everything, but she was always willing," offered Pelling. "She's a very, very healthy filly, she's always been sound, and she's honest. She's as honest a horse as you'll ever be around. "She won't let you down. She's always going to be in the hunt. She can do it any way. I actually prefer her out of a pocket, but it's just the way the races line up and everything, and you want to give yourself a chance in these big races. It doesn't have to be laid out for her. She's a good girl." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter The final for rookie fillies saw Miki And Minnie (Dunn) give way to sit in the pocket behind Looksgoodinloulou (Gingras) passing the 27 second quarter-mile marker. Looksgoodinloulou maintained control throught middle-half fractions of 55 2/5 and 1:23 and into the lane, but Miki And Minnie rallied to her outside late and got up at the wire for the victory by a nostril in 1:49 4/5. Unreasonable (Scott Zeron) came in third. Miki And Minnie, a daughter of Always B Miki, is trained by Chris Ryder for owners/breeders Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo and Lawrence Minowitz. She has a trio of triumphs and four runner-up results from seven trips behind the gate, has put away $280,000 and paid $4.92 to win. "We liked her a lot, but she didn't seem like that fast, not speedy, but we started racing her and she just kept coming. We went for the money and got lucky," Ryder said about starting Miki And Minnie in the second-level Commonwealth Series and moving her up to the top-flight Championship Series. "Now that we made a good chunk of money today, we might be a little fussy about how much we race her. She's already had seven starts. She's got everything - Breeders Crown, the Grand Circuit here, she's well-staked. "It was a good mark for a pacing filly." Bettor's Wish colt Better Is Nice (Andy McCarthy), who won the Kentucky Championship Series final in 2023 at age 2, did the same thing in 2024 as a sophomore in a career-best 1:48. He yielded to sit in the pocket behind Women Layer (T. McCarthy) beyond the 27 1/5 quarter and continued to stalk him to the 54 2/5 half and 1:22 three-quarters. Better Is Nice angled to the outside in the lane, went around Women Layer without much of a battle, and kicked away to a 2 3/4 length decision. Women Layer held second from Nuclear (Dunn). "We love coming here. We support Kentucky," relayed winning trainer Tony Alagna. "It's great to have this horse get sharp again. He hit a little where he wasn't quite as sharp there for a couple legs, but his last leg he showed us he was back on his game, and tonight I think he was better than ever. He's very versatile. He can do it a lot of different ways. He sat a great trip tonight. It couldn't have worked out any better. Andy's done a phenomenal job with this horse all the way through his career, and like I said tonight, I think he was as good as ever. "He's fully staked all the way through the Breeders Crown. We'll just play it as it comes. We'll definitely go the first week (of the Grand Circuit) here." Alagna Racing LLC. and Marvin Katz bred Better Is Nice, a Bettor's Wish gelding, and now Alagna Racing LLC., Pryde Stables Inc. and Birnam Wood Farms own the Tony Alagna trainee. Better Is Nice has a summary of 11-4-4 from 24 appearances, has put away $924,183 and returned $8.16 to win as the 3-1 third choice.