Red Mile: Southwind Chaska sizzles in Bluegrass Series

Southwind Chaska's 1:51 4/5 mile led the way in four Bluegrass Series tilts for 2-year-old trotting fillies on Friday afternoon at The Red Mile.

Racing in the third $94,500 division, Southwind Chaska (Tim Tetrick) led at the 28 3/5 quarter, then yielded to sit in the two-hole behind Carve (Andy McCarthy) nearing the 55 4/5 half. Carve backed down three-quarters to 1:25, which set up a sprint for home, and Southwind Chaska kicked home in 26 2/5 to get around Carve by half a length. Busy Miss Lissy S (James MacDonald) rallied from seventh to third in the last quarter.

Jim Oscarsson trains Southwind Chaska, a daughter of Tactical Landing bred by Southwind Farms, for owners Oscarsson Racing Stable Inc. and John Cummins. She has a summary of 5-1-1 from seven starts, has earned $183,625 and paid $8.64 to win.

"That's perfect," Oscarsson said of the filly's lifetime-best performance, which shed three seconds off her mark taken at the Meadowlands in her previous start. "I hope she'll be better and so that we break some new records. We're going to go next week. She looks really nice."

Back in the opening flight Jailbird Jog (James MacDonald) pressed forward from post seven to take control past the 29 second quarter, maintained command to the half in 57 seconds and the three-quarters in 1:25 1/5, and pulled away to prevail by 3 1/4 lengths in 1:52 2/5. Leading Lady (Yannick Gingras) was the runner-up and Lauren's Chapter (Todd McCarthy) came in third.

"She's amazing," MacDonald said after the race. "She's been a great filly all year, just had some tough luck a couple of times. But it's good to see her get the job done today."

Another Tactical Landing filly, Jailbird Jog was sent out by Eric Patalan for owners Thestable Jailbird Jog, P23 Bloodstock, and Hutchison Harness LLC. Bred by Jorgen Sparredal Inc., Jailbird Jog has three wins and a second from nine outings, has banked $118,650 and returned $6.54 to win.

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The second split saw Sparks (Ake Svanstedt) on the engine at the 28 1/5 quarter, but she would be overtaken by Country Glide (David Miller) before the 56 4/5 half-mile station. Country Glide went on to put three-quarters on the board in 1:25 1/5, but Sparks found a gap between her and a first-over Next Big Think (Dexter Dunn) in the lane and nailed Country Glide on the wire by a nose in a 1:53 1/5 performance. Next Big Think was the third-place finisher.

Svanstedt also trains and co-owns Sparks with Journey Horses Inc., Graham Grace Stables LLC. and Joe Sbrocco & Jaf Racing. By Walner, Sparks was bred by Fair Winds Farm with Bellevue Farms, has a pair of victories and two thirds from six trips behind the gate and has pocketed $91,625. She paid $19.34 to win.

"Ake picked these horses out and [Sbrocco] was for it, so sometimes we go a little extra on the spending," said John Fodera, who co-owns the $150,000 Harrisburg purchase through JAF Racing. "There was a ship just recently for this one, so it felt very good. We didn't expect what we got."

Frattina Diablo S (A. McCarthy) and Naked And Famous (T. McCarthy) cut fractions of 28 2/5, 56 4/5 and 1:25 3/5 in the last grouping, but Denarius (Dunn) took the lead from first-up in the stretch and held off a second-over Lainey W (Scott Zeron) by three-quarters of a length in 1:53 1/5. Frattina Diablo S finished third.

Domenico Cecere-trained Denarius is an International Moni filly bred by Moni Market Breeders and owned by Moni Maker Stable. Now with a trio of triumphs and a second from four efforts, Denarius has put away $95,830 and returned $4.20 to win.

"I just took my time with her," said trainer Domenico Cecere, who didn't debut the filly until Aug. 1 with a 1:55 2/5 win in a Kindergarten division at the Meadowlands. "She showed that she was a nice filly. And it's working out."

--quotes by Ray Cotolo--