Red Mile: Strong Poison stings foes in Kentucky Championship Series

Strong Poison delivered a powerful punch with her return to the winner's circle on Tuesday (Aug. 29) at The Red Mile in 1:50 in the sole $80,000 division of the Kentucky Championship Series for sophomore pacing fillies. The 12-race program also featured one $30,000 Kentucky Commonwealth Series race and one $15,000 Golden Rod Series event.

Strong Poison, in line to Yannick Gingras, sat in the garden spot leaving the gate as Cultured (Scott Zeron) set the first fraction of 27 4/5. Gingras then gave the filly her head in the backstretch and moved her by Cultured to control the tempo. She clicked off middle-half fractions of 56 3/5 and 1:24 2/5 and held off the bid of Charleston (Tim Tetrick) to hit the line in front by half a length. Cultured was third.

The daughter of Always B Miki-Flyonce is trained by Ron Burke and owned by Burke Racing Stable, J&T Silva Stables, Knox Services Inc. and Beasty LLC.

Strong Poison became the track and stakes record holder at Harrah's Hoosier Park with a 1:48 victory in the Nadia Lobell at the Anderson, Indiana, oval in her seasonal debut on June 20. The filly's resume now stands at 7-6-3 from 20 starts and her bankroll is $581,125. Strong Poison paid $4.24 to win and was bred by Steve Stewart, the late Cotton Nash and Julie Nash.

Horizontal lays it down in Kentucky Commonwealth Series

Horizontal (Zeron) collected her second consecutive victory to improve her lifetime record to 5-2-2 from 14 efforts in the $30,000 Commonwealth showdown. The filly tripped the teletimer in 1:49 1/5, a new lifetime-best, for trainer Linda Toscano.

Horizontal is a half-sibling to the undefeated 2-year-old Geocentric and is owned by Determination. The daughter of Always B Miki-Geometry was bred by Diamond Creek Farm and paid $9.10 to win.

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Keep My Secret reveals all in Golden Rod Series

Tony Hall guided Keep My Secret ($5.82) to a neck triumph in 1:49 1/5 in the third round of the Golden Rod Series. Keep My Secret, a daughter of Captaintreacherous, is trained by Anette Lorentzon and owned by breeder Dr. Fred Kruszelnicki.

--edited press release (The Red Mile)--