Red Mile: McCarthy nets hat trick in Bluegrass for rookie trotting males

Andrew McCarthy had three winners, two for trainer Tony Alagna, in Bluegrass Stakes action for 2-year-old colt and gelding trotters on Friday afternoon at The Red Mile.

McCarthy and Alagna teamed up to win the third $71,000 flight with Gigondas in 1:53 4/5. Gigondas sat third through fractions of 28 1/5, 57, and 1:25 4/5, fanned out for the drive, and was able to chase down leader Keg Stand (Dexter Dunn) before the wire to score by a head. Pace-setter Global Pandemic (Yannick Gingras) faded to third.

A Trixton-Magical Valentine colt bred by M T Pockets Stables and Victoria Howard, Gigondas is owned by Brad Grant. Gigondas has two wins and a second from seven starts, has earned $79,000, and paid $11.00 to win as the 9-2 fourth choice.

Slay, making just his third career start, gave the McCarthy/Alagna pairing another triumph in the fourth $71,000 division. Letsdoit S (Brian Sears) took the lead after the 28 4/5 opening quarter and would go on to reach the half in 57 4/5, but he was overtaken by both a first-over Double Deceiver (David Miller) and a second-over Slay past that station. Double Deceiver clicked off three-quarters in 1:25 and turned for home first, but Slay angled out at the top of the stretch, wore down Double Deceiver, and trotted clear to score by a length and a half in 1:52 4/5. Letsdoit S re-rallied late in the mile and was third.

Crawford Farms Racing and James Crawford IV own Slay, a full brother to Ahundreddollarbill (Chapter Seven-Swinging Royalty). Bred by Jonas Schlabach, Slay has a record of 2-0-1 and has now banked $39,506. He was the 3-1 second choice and returned $8.00 to win.

McCarthy completed his triple in the final $72,000 test with Jim Campbell-trained Stride The Hill in 1:53 1/5. Classic Hill (Scott Zeron) pressed on two-wide to the front to the lead after the 28 4/5 opening quarter, but he was overtaken by Stride The Hill and then Looks Like Moni (Tim Tetrick) on the way to the 56 2/5 half. Looks Like Moni got to three-quarters in 1:25, but he would make a break just past that marker, giving the lead back to Stride The Hill. Stride The Hill wouldn't relinquish command again after he got it again, holding off Classic Hill to win by a length and a quarter. El Toro Loco (Gingras) got third.

"He was a colt training down that was smarter than I was," Campbell said. "He knew it didn't count training, so we were forced to kind of take our time with him. First time he went behind the gate, he was a totally different horse and he's been nothing but an improvement every start. Andy [McCarthy] asked me before the race 'How is he?' and I said 'you can race him any way you want.' He's always giving us a good kick finishing. I wasn't surprised when Andy moved him [before the half]."

Stride The Hill is a Muscle Hill-Open Access colt owned by Fashion Farms LLC. and bred by Fair Winds Farm Inc. Stride The Hill broke his maiden in his seventh opportunity, has now stashed away $58,850, and paid $6.40 to win as the 2-1 second choice.

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Branded By Lindy (Gingras) was the fastest of the five Bluegrass victors, as he annexed the second $71,000 section in 1:52. Branded By Lindy landed on the point after the 29 second opening quarter, maintained control through a 57 1/5 half and a 1:25 three-quarters, and kicked away in a 27 last quarter to prevail by 2 1/2 lengths. Rose Run Xtra (Chris Page) was second, and Rebuff (Lucas Wallin) closed well from off-the-pace for third.

"He always showed he had a lot of speed, but we were going through some gait issues and clearing them up," winning trainer Domenico Cecere. "We took our time, and we knew when we came to The Red Mile he would change a lot. We started to clean him up, clean him up, and are very impressed in how gentlemanly he is now. And now he finally, he looks almost to me 100 percent."

Domenico Cecere trains Branded By Lindy, a Lindy Farms homebred. The Chapter Seven-The Lindy Label colt is now a six-time winner from eight trips behind the gate, and he has put away $115,850. He was the 4-5 favorite and returned $3.60 to win.

Back in the opening $71,000 grouping, World At War Deo (Tetrick) forged his way to the top beyond the 27 3/5 quarter and continued to lead to a 56 1/5 half and a 1:25 three-quarters. Periculum (Mattias Melander) tipped out three-wide from second-over after three-quarters, and he kicked home well while widest in the lane to get up and defeat World At War Deo by half a length in 1:53 1/5. B A Superhero (Dunn) was the third-place finisher.

Trained by Marcus Melander, Periculum is a Muscle Hill-Amour Heiress colt bred by Order By Stable and owned by Holly Lane Stud East LTD. Brixton Medical Inc., and Howard Taylor. He made his second appearance in the winner's circle from eight tries and has now pocketed $67,406. He paid $8.00 to win as the 3-1 second choice.

--quotes courtesy of The Red Mile--