Red Mile: McCarthy with a full slate in KYSS Sire Stakes finals

With $2.1 million on the line, Sunday’s Red Mile late afternoon of Champions has drawn the best of the best in Kentucky Sire Stakes final action. Driver Andrew McCarthy has rapidly become the driver of choice for many of today’s best stakes performers and he’s eagerly looking forward to his mounts during the eight championship races.

McCarthy took time to go over a few of his drives on Sunday starting with race four, the $250,000 final for 2-year-old pacing fillies, where he’ll drive Salutation from post six.

“I was a little disappointed with the way she finished her mile last week,” said McCarthy of the Bob Stewart-trained daughter of Sportswriter. “She’d raced better in the prior two Sire Stakes starts.”

McCarthy looks in prime position to take down the $250,000 final for juvenile pacing colts and geldings with Captain Trevor, a colt from the first crop of Captaintreacherous from the Tony Alagna stable. McCarthy guided the colt to three straight Sire Stakes scores at The Red Mile and has a chance for a sweep from post two.

“He’s done everything right so far,” said McCarthy, who a night earlier will drive Captain Trevor’s stablemate the also unbeaten Captain Ahab, in the Metro elims. “If I had to choose between the two right now I would take Ahab,” McCarthy said. “But Trevor is going to be heard from.”

With four wins in as many starts, Captain Trevor starts from post two in the sixth race. He’ll need to be at his best in a field that includes seven that have already won in 1:52 or better this season and two that have bettered 1:51 in Can’t Beach That (post 7) and Hurrikane Emperor (post 8).

With many of the top sophomore trotting fillies racing north of the border this weekend, the field for the $250,000 Sire Stakes final is a well-matched group of 10 with McCarthy slated to guide the well-bred Deschanel for trainer Bob Stewart from post two.

“She’s been very good,” said McCarthy of the daughter of Yankee Glide. “I got a little jammed up with her last week and had to shut her down in mid-stretch and she lost her momentum.” The result was a fourth-place finish for Deschanel after a pair of seconds in her prior preliminary legs.

Top Expectations landed the rail for this final with Jordan Stratton and won both of the preliminary legs she competed in quite handily. Live Laugh Love (post 3) posted the fastest preliminary leg victory, a 1:52 2/5 mile on August 19. She drew post three with David Miller aboard.

Dance Blue may be McCarthy’s best chance at capturing a Kentucky Sire Stakes final as the daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven drew inside with post three in the final carded as race eight.

“I really don’t know why they wouldn’t let her race,” McCarthy said of the issue when last Sunday’s card had to be scrapped and re-slated for Monday. Because Dance Blue scratched on Sunday due to weather, she was not permitted to race on Monday. “I mean they scratched because they didn’t want to race a quality horse over a track they deemed unsafe and then the judges agreed with them.”

Needless to say that $30,000 preliminary leg is history now and Dance Blue and McCarthy will have to focus on the final. “I don’t really want to race her on the front end early,” said McCarthy. “With the inside I have more options.”

Dance Blue has picked up her game noticeably over the last six weeks and that has given McCarthy belief that she can do well in the late stages of the stakes season. “She wasn’t that far behind Kissin In The Sand and the others in the Shady Daisy,” McCarthy said. “I think if she continues the way she’s going, she should figure in the Breeders Crown.”

McCarthy may be a bit overmatched with Dawson Springs (post 5) in the ninth race Sire Stakes final for sophomore trotting colts. “I hope I can get a piece with him,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy has been more than pleased with the recent performances of Grand Teton, his drive in the day’s finale, the $250,000 championship for sophomore pacing colts and geldings. “He raced great for me in the Cane (second behind Stay Hungry) and then got into a little trouble at Harrah’s, but Jimmy (Takter, trainer) corrected that and he’s been solid at The Red Mile,” McCarthy said.

Grand Teton drew post three inside main rivals American History (post 6) and Thinkbig Dreambig (post 5). “I think if I had gotten out behind American History last week we would have been right there on the wire,” said McCarthy.

Post time is 3:00 p.m. for the 10-race Red Mile Sunday program.