Red Mile: Redemption for Rebuff in Kentucky Futurity

With a field of a dozen horses, it's not always easy to find a way into contention in a major race, but Tim Tetrick, driving Rebuff, managed to overcome a large field and an overland journey to capture Sunday's $430,000 130th edition of the Kentucky Futurity for 3-year-old male trotters at The Red Mile in 1:50 3/5.

For Rebuff, the beaten Hambletonian favorite, the Futurity turned into a completely different race thanks to Tetrick's good fortune.

"We landed in a good spot early, and I was able to track cover," Tetrick said.

It was an ideal situation for the winner in the early stages as there was plenty of action for the first half-mile. With Temporal Hanover blasting to the top into the first turn, driver Mattias Melander set the opening fraction of 27 2/5, but others were lining up on the outer tier. First, Branded By Lindy and Yannick Gingras drove to the front nearing three-eighths completion, and then Brian Sears, behind the 8-5 race favorite Periculum, reached the top but paid the price, hitting that marker in 54 3/5.

Slay and driver Joe Bongiorno had left from post two and remained parked-out, but the driver was careful not to engage the leaders for the opening-half. Slay made a solid move to reach the leaders through the 1:22 3/5 three-quarters, and in the process towed Tetrick and Rebuff perfectly into contention.

Tetrick wasted no time moving Rebuff wide, and the son of Muscle Hill took advantage with an explosive late move, trotting right past the leader Periculum by mid-stretch. There was traffic galore at that point as horses and drivers looked for a way to get through inside. While Branded By Lindy and Justice could find no room on the pylons, Melander was able to cleverly steer Temporal Hanover between horses and was charging through the wire to be a solid second. Hambletonian champion Cool Papa Bell couldn't repeat his upset in August but managed a solid third-place finish from post nine and off excess cover. Pace-setter Perciulum settled for fourth, with Pretender fifth after following the winner's cover most of the journey.

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"It was the first time no shoes," said Tetrick following the win. "He redeemed himself today."

Sent off as a 10-1 offering, Rebuff returned $23.90 to win. A son of Muscle Hill, Rebuff was a winner for the fifth time this year for trainer and co-owner Lucas Wallin, along with other owners Kjell Andersen and Pieter Delis.

"I'm pretty sure we have the best colt," said Wallin proudly following the victory.