Red Mile: No sweat for Test Of Faith in Allerage

Test Of Faith didn't disappoint as the 1-9 favorite in the $73,000 Allerage Farms Fillies and Mares Open Pace on Sunday afternoon at The Red Mile, cruising to a 1:50 1/5 win.

No Win No Feed A (Andy McCarthy) tipped out of the pocket and took the top spot away from Gia's Surreal (Brian Sears) nearing the 27 3/5 opening quarter, but driver David Miller wheeled Test Of Faith out of fourth early in the backstretch, and last year's Horse of the Year would brush to the point approaching the 55 second half.

From there, Test Of Faith rolled through three-quarters in 1:23 2/5, and a 26 4/5 sprint in the final quarter got her to the finish line a length and a half ahead of No Win No Feed A. Gia's Surreal, Watch Me Now N (Tim Tetrick), and Chase Lounge (Dexter Dunn) rounded out the order.

A 4-year-old daughter of Art Major, Test Of Faith pushed her record to 32-8-0 from 41 career starts for trainer Brett Pelling and owners Mel Segal, Kentuckiana Racing Stable, and Eddie Gran. She has pocketed $2,269,081 and paid $2.10 to win.

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"She loves this track obviously. She's had some incredible performances here. Brett wanted to bring her here, as did we being from here and having the crowds that we get for the Grand Circuit racing. It's exciting. It's an incredible ride," said Ken Jackson from Kentuckiana Farms. "We really have been on the ride here. Melvin picked her out and Brett has done an incredible job. We've just jumped aboard and been very fortunate to be part of all of this. It's great when you can breed a bunch of million dollar winners, but it's really fun to own one and be able to compete at this level.

"I was probably up at 5:30 or 6 o'clock, just excited like it's a sporting event. That's the one thing great about horse racing, you feel like you're back in the batter's box or wherever you are. The heart gets pumping every time."